


Reunited

by RosyMiz



Series: JhinSona One-Shots [1]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Angst, Blood Moon Jhin, F/M, Guqin Sona, Multiverse, One Shot Collection, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Tragedy, and in different genres, it's just a bunch of one shots in different AUs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2018-12-31 05:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12125418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosyMiz/pseuds/RosyMiz
Summary: They say there are many universes out there. Some could be our past lives. Some are divergent from our current lives because of a different decision. Some are of worlds you would read in one of your storybooks. But if there's one thing that's common among them all, it's that we are reunited in some way. Who knows what kind of lives we lived in said worlds? (A collection of JhinSona one-shots in different AUs and genres.)





	1. Vows

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is a follow-up/reference to my first JhinSona fanfic, [Like A Rose](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11698254/chapters/26338995). Please read it when you have the time. But otherwise, most of this chapter should be understandable without the need to read Like A Rose.

Quiet rustling resounded in a large room, where sunlight flooded through the windows and sheer, white curtains. The hedge of rosebushes outside were colored with blooming red, pink, and peach roses that attracted butterflies and hummingbirds to their nectar. 

At the end of the room, a tall mirror stood along the wall and reflected the near-empty room except for a few women surrounding one dressed in white sitting on a chair. 

“To think so many people from all over Runeterra would come for this wedding.”

“I’m more surprised Demacia even let Noxians go through their gates.”

“Well, you’re a different case, Kat! You’re practically engaged to my brother!”

“You, you didn’t have to bring that up, and you know it.”

A smug giggle echoed across the walls. “Oh, I know. Besides, any non-Demacian were sworn to neutrality before they were allowed to enter.”

“I never thought I would be a bridesmaid for your daughter’s wedding, Lady Lestara. Valor and I thank you.” A soft squawk sounded from another’s shoulder.

“I do apologize for taking your time away from your duties in the military, Quinn, but I thought you would like to see my daughter’s wedding before you moved on to your next mission.”

A chuckle. “I would do anything you or Lady Sona wishes, my lady. I am forever indebted to you for your influence on our acceptance into the military. Besides, I’m overjoyed to hear that Lady Sona is finally getting married after all these years.”

“And with a ball, no less!” Lux excitedly gushed. “I’ve always wanted to dance in a wedding. Doesn’t it sound so romantic, Kat? Dancing together hand-in hand, looking into each other’s eyes, while the music fills the ballroom?” She leaned against a blushing Katarina with a dreamy sigh. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I embarrassing you?” Katarina didn’t say a word.

“Lady Sona, how are you feeling?” Akali asked, bending down to Sona’s level. “Nervous?”

Sona’s chest rose with a deep breath. Oh, she was nervous. People from Noxus, Piltover, Ionia, Shuriuma, even Bandle City, and more came to Demacia for her wedding. Not to mention, she was going to do the first dance after the evening banquet. Dancing with her groom. Her love, Jhin. 

It had been years since she and Jhin started seeing each other. Wanting to start anew with a compulsion-free lifestyle, Jhin started his own opera company and slowly built up his reputation until most of his performances were full houses. Moreover, he was able to succeed without being noticed by the cabal of the Ionian council.

Whenever she remembered how Jhin proposed to her towards the end of one of his operas, her lips curled into a euphoric smile. She placed her bouquet of white roses on her lap.  _ “I'm fine. I don't even know where to begin to describe how I feel,” _ she signed.

Akali paused to interpret Sona’s signs before replying, “Of course. Today is a special day, after all.”

Lestara had disappeared during Akali and Sona’s exchange and came back from the hall with a smile. “Alright, girls, get lined up. I just got the signal from Shen that everyone is ready.” The four girls stepped outside of the bride’s waiting room to line up before the grand doors. Lestara helped Sona stand up and looked at her daughter’s reflection in the mirror. “My dear daughter is finally getting married, and I am more than blessed to be able to walk you down the aisle.” Tears prickled her eyes seeing Sona in such an elegant white dress lined with gold. 

Sona hugged Lestara tightly. Her mother was so supportive of her and Jhin’s relationship throughout the years, and she couldn’t be more thankful that she was by her side too. Her mother hugged her back even tighter, rocking Sona in her embrace. They lingered for a moment longer before Lestara let her go.

“Ready, dear?”

_ “Whenever you are.” _

* * *

 

Jhin stood on the altar, his finger tapping four beats against his cupped hands. He couldn’t bear to turn around and see the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of eyes that were anticipating Sona’s arrival to the wedding hall. Any form of stage fright he had couldn’t compare to the giddy feeling in his stomach. For now, he remained still under the stares of Shen, Zed, Kennen, and Garen. He didn’t even realize the nudges against his arm until he almost tipped over.

Zed had walked up beside Jhin, trying to gain his attention. “Not getting a case of cold feet, are we?”

“Cold feet? Of course not,” he confidently answered. “Rather, there are more people than I expected there to be. It’s difficult to turn around to face them.”

There was amusement in Shen’s ghost-blue eyes as Zed sent a knowing look at his friend, his brother, beside him. Shen smirked and leaned in towards Jhin. “Are you sure? Because I think Lady Sona is about to make her appearance.” They smiled in satisfaction when Jhin immediately turned to look across the room, ignoring the eyes that now followed his gaze to the opened doors.

Akali first stepped into the hallway with a basket of cherry blossoms. She scattered them around the white carpet as she walked forward. Behind her was Katarina spreading red rose petals on the sides to let them mix with the pink. Lux and Quinn followed behind next to each other with Valor sitting on Quinn’s shoulder between them. 

Behind the bridesmaids were Lestara and Sona, arms linked and elegantly walking down the aisle. Sona’s face was covered with her veil, her hair adorned with golden roses. The diffused sunlight of the afternoon sun seemed to make Sona glow and sparkle with each step. 

Beautiful. Absolutely exquisite. Such elegance.

Words raced through Jhin’s mind at the speed of his heartbeat as he laid eyes on the bride. His bride. His love, Sona. He let out the breath that was trapped in his lungs. All the faces and eyes he was so concerned about disappeared into a sea of blur as he watched Sona approach the altar. 

She was in front of him. He was frozen in his place, too immersed in admiring how stunning she looked. He remembered to move when Shen gently pushed him towards her.

Words. Where were the words? His thoughts were going too fast to even attempt to utter a sound. Only another speechless breath that made Sona softly laugh into the bouquet. His hands moved up to hold onto the corners of her veil, gently lifting it over her head to reveal her loving expression underneath. If Sona’s walking down the aisle robbed him of his words, this took his breath away. 

Gods. Give him the strength to say something. Anything.

Jhin’s lip parted to find his voice. “My rose, my love… you’re beautiful,” he whispered under his breath. He kissed her forehead lovingly before he gazed at her once more. Her eyes expressed so much joy, so much bliss, so much love. He could stare at her forever.

However, they were at a wedding. Their wedding. They turned their attention to the priest who patiently waited for them with a content smile. They nodded to let the priest begin.

“Dearly beloved…” the priest started the invocation and had Lestara tell the guests her story of how she had come to know of their relationship—without giving Jhin’s true past away—and their growing bond and love to each other over the years. She had come to think of Jhin as a future son-in-law and husband of her daughter, as he had shown only love, care, and respect towards her. To her, it was only a matter of time before they got engaged and married each other.

And here they were, now.

Kennen brought forth their wedding rings once it was time for their vows. The priest smiled and turned back to the couple. “Do you take her as your loving wife, from this day forward, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

Jhin kissed her hand and looked into her eyes. “I do.”

“And do you take him as your loving husband, from this day forward, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

Sona gently caressed Jhin’s face as she looked into his.  _ “I do,” _ she signed.

“You may exchange vows, if you have any,” the priest said.

There was no need to exchange their own vows. Their love was a silent but powerful force that was present in their loving gaze that only reflected each other. Each second was a vow they expressed to each other from their hearts. They loved each other so much that nothing could tear them apart anymore. They’ve been through so much that their no one else could understand what and how much they could express with one simple glance. 

“Then, I pronounce you husband and wife.” The priest let Kennen approach the center to let Jhin and Sona take the rings and slip them onto each other’s fingers. “You may now kiss the bride.”

Jhin cupped Sona’s cheek and slowly leaned in to kiss her on the lips to seal their vows and love. Sona also leaned in and wrapped her arms around his neck as their lips met in intense affection. All the guests stood up and clapped for this joyous moment between them, cheering for their love and happiness, but the ecstatic heartbeats of the husband and bride drowned them out in their ears.

Nothing else mattered more.

* * *

 

After their first dance, the guests joined in to dance the rest of the evening away on this day of celebration. Women gathered near Sona to possibly catch her beautiful bouquet of white roses. Sona smiled in amusement and threw the bouquet behind her, watching them follow the bouquet and try to catch it.

The bouquet bounced off a few grabbing hands and into the hands of a vaguely interested Katarina, whose jaw hung open when she realized she caught the bouquet. 

“Guess we know whose wedding will be next, right?” Lux whispered into Katarina’s ears in joy.

“Crownguard!” Katarina hushed. 

“Yes?”

Katarina turned around to see Garen standing behind her, the knight having seen the bouquet land into Katarina’s hands. “You saw nothing.” She tried.

Garen’s eyes moved to the flowers in her hands and smiled. “I don’t see why there’s a need to rush. We can take our time,” he said in a gentler, quieter voice in contrast to his usual booming voice.

Lux hummed and laughed under her breath as she skipped away from Katarina trying to hit her with the bouquet itself. Garen only laughed and chased after her to invite her to a dance.

Meanwhile, Jhin and Sona had quietly slipped away into the garden for some time away from the guests. They sat on an isolated bench within the garden, where bushes and vines of flowers covered them from any peering eyes inside. The crescent moon provided them a sliver of light to see each other’s faces through the shadows of the vines.

They listened to the crickets and the hooting of an owl nearby, enjoying the silence away from the loud ballroom inside. Their ears nearly rang from all the music and loud cheers throughout the evening. 

“A ball for a wedding,” Jhin started. “What a grand celebration this is.”

Sona’s shoulders shook as she giggled.  _ “Tired?” _

“You wouldn’t believe the state I was in, knowing there were hundreds of people watching me on the altar.” He chuckled to himself, shaking his head at the thought. “I don’t like crowds, but this is an exception.”

_ “They all wanted to see the Maven of the Strings and the Virtuoso get married. Our names are practically known all throughout Runeterra.” _

Jhin gave her a look that admitted she was right. At this point, he was a famous opera singer known for his original compositions and sets for his plays. His reputation moved higher and higher with each performance that he was now sponsored to have another opera in almost every nation. Every performance he had recently was a full house, much to his surprise after he counted the numbers. 

Sona turned to Jhin, admiring him as he stared at the moon, and kissed him near his jawline.  _ “It’s surreal that we got married.” _

“Indeed. I never would have thought our encounter would lead to this. It’s been so long since we first met in that grove back in Ionia.” Jhin paused to look at Sona’s face in the moonlight, her eyes and her smile brighter than light itself. “It’s almost like a dream.”

Silence befell the two again, but they enjoyed it under the twinkling stars. Sona leaned her head on Jhin’s shoulder and felt his head lean on her hair as he wrapped his arms around her frame. A sigh of bliss escaped them as they gazed out into the garden with only each other as company. This was more than enough.

They were moving on to a new act with new circumstances and a new setting. But they were willing to keep going hand-in-hand, as long as they were by the other’s side.

As husband and wife.


	2. Cappuccino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coffee Shop AU - Jhin owns one of the most famous cafe/bar in the city, especially known for his open mic nights every weekend. He finds out Sona will be performing in his bar the next weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I highly recommend checking my best friend's [modern AU](http://bekkodraws.tumblr.com/tagged/LoL+Modern+AU/page/1) to know how I see most of the cast here. :3c

Violins and woodwinds flooded from the speakers above as running water sounded from the back. Intricately-designed ceramic mugs lined the counter in stacks next to a variety of brewers neatly arranged for someone to grab without trouble. The water shut off, and a man’s voice hummed along to the choir accompanying the violin solo.

The barista hovered his hands over the pots, debating what to use for his first cup of coffee for the day. He gently took out the French press and poured freshly-grinded coffee into the pot. After pouring a bit of hot water in, he stirred the grinds with the water and poured the rest of the water in, gently stirring it one more time. He set the timer for four minutes and let his mind wander as the coffee steeped.

The Golden Curtain, a café at dawn and a bar at dusk. One flip of a switch could turn the wall of coffee beans and cups into a wall of glasses and liqueurs in an elaborate rearrangement. One of his best ideas to implement into his shop, Jhin considered.

The timer beeped, and Jhin proceeded to press the coffee before pouring the brew into his favorite mug and another. He placed the other mug of coffee on a warming plate. After washing out the press, he moved to a window seat to watch the colors of the sunrise. The pleasant aroma of his coffee calmed him as he took a sip.

Medium-bodied, dark, and smooth. Just the way he liked it.

Jhin watched the occasional car and business person hurry past his café without noticing him by the window.

It was quiet. But then again, it was six in the morning. In about an hour, there was going to be an increasing influx of traffic and crowds for the next few hours. His face slightly contorted into a displeased frown. As great as he felt that his business was popular enough to move in-city, he almost missed the times when his café used to be in the outskirts. Less noise to deal with.

But alas, he had to learn how to handle the ways of being a popular café and bar. At least the walls and doors prevented most sound from overwhelming the classical music playing above. He was glad that he soundproofed them before he reopened business.

He drank the last of his coffee, enjoying the smooth aftertaste, and went on to grind more coffee beans for the morning. Thirty minutes before opening. He swiftly lined disposable cups and mugs within seconds and wrote names of his regular customers on them. At this point, he had customers that came in every morning that he had their order prepared by the time they arrived.

A few cars rushed past in short increments, notifying Jhin of the incoming traffic. More people were beginning to walk by the windows, some running to work and some walking groggily across the pavement. They probably needed more coffee to start the day. Jhin chuckled at the thought.

A door beside the counter clicked shut as a dark-skinned young man walked through the door with his black apron. “Sorry, Mister Khada. I got held up trying to drive Lulu to school.” He immediately looked at the names and helped Jhin brew the rest of the coffee.

“No worries, Veigar. Just make sure you send me a text if you think you’ll be coming in past opening.” Jhin handed Veigar the other mug of coffee he made from the warmer. “Dark roast, no creme or sugar.”

Veigar’s eyes seemed to soften in relief. “You’re a lifesaver, thanks.” He took a noticeable gulp from the mug and blinked a few times to let the caffeine settle in. “You wouldn’t believe the traffic to the high school. Lulu resorted to running out of my car because she’s impatient.”

Laughter broke out from Jhin. “Interesting. But I’m glad you made it here safely.”

Opening time.

As expected, Jhin’s regulars came in first. A woman wearing teal with her black hair tied into a high ponytail and a younger man—clearly a university student—walked through his doors.

“Hi, Mister Khada. Veigar,” the woman greeted. “Three of the usual, please.”

“Miss Akali. Kennen. Already done for you.” Jhin packed two cups of coffees and one frappuccino into the cupholder. “Shen hasn’t woken up yet, it seems,” he commented.

“He had to pull an all-nighter to take care of extra paperwork he procrastinated on,” the student said with a smug smile. “I told him he was going to regret it later. What’s up, Vei?”

Veigar gave Kennen an acknowledging gesture with a neutral smile. “Yo. Don’t got classes today?”

Kennen shook his head. “Nah, it’s my day off.”

Jhin smiled in amusement. “Should I put in an extra shot of espresso in his drink then?”

Akali shook her head. “No, I think it will be bad for his heart. But I might come back if Master Shen doesn’t wake up properly after his coffee.” After paying, they said their farewells and hurried to Shen’s house.

Next, a woman with golden blonde hair walked in with a smile as bright as the sun. “Good morning, Mister Khada!” she chirped.

“Miss Lux, you’re done with your morning stroll, I see,” Jhin greeted back with a nod of his head. “Mocha with extra milk and a pump of caramel?”

“You got it!”

Jhin carefully held up a mug of Lux’s order, white flowers decorating the top. “Careful, dear, it’s still hot.”

“Oh, that’s adorable! You really have a knack for latte art, Mister Khada. Thank you!” She paid for her drink and took it to a table near the window.

People began to pour into his café and leave in satisfaction with their order in hand. Rush hour in the city was busy, but Veigar was quick with memorizing each customer’s orders. With such a skill, Jhin had no trouble making these orders within minutes. Once rush hour passed, it would be smooth sailing for the rest of the day.

* * *

 

Jhin looked at his wristwatch. An hour past noon. “Veigar, you can take your lunch break after this order, if you’d like.”

Veigar was standing by the register to punch in the customer’s order. He shook his head. “No, I’m not very hungry right now. You can go instead, Mister Khada. I’ll take it later.”

“Alright, if you insist.” He took this time to go into the back and pull out a container of pan-fried dumplings he cooked this morning. After reheating them up in a pan, he returned to the front and and took a seat by the window. There weren’t that many people in line, but there was a number of customers inside drinking their coffee and tapping away on their laptops.

He looked at his wristwatch again.

Hm. Perhaps an extra shot of espresso would do today.

He kept the possibility noted in the back of his mind as he finished his lunch and tapped the email app on his phone. Most were auditions and resumés to do a performance for his open mic nights at the bar. His finger stopped scrolling when his eyes landed on the name “Buvelle”.

The Buvelles were known for their lineage in music, and their current heir was Sona Buvelle, a renowned classical pianist known for her soothing compositions. He immediately tapped the email open to an eloquent message asking to perform for his open mic night next weekend, resumé and cover letter attached. He smiled.

A quiet shuffling and a blur of blue caught his eye. He nearly dropped his phone when he saw Sona sitting in front of him. She was wearing a sunhat that covered her compactly-tied aqua hair and a white dress with golden flowers designed into the hem. He couldn’t miss the yellow daisies that decorated her hair. It was like her trademark.

“Miss Bu—”

“Shhh!” Sona quietly hushed him as she held her finger to her lips. She then started texting something on her phone and then showed him the screen. _“Did you get my email?”_

Jhin felt a corner of his lips tugging into a smirk. “I just read it. You could have asked me in person, and I still would have said yes,” he said. “You didn’t have to go through the trouble of sending me an email.”

She texted something on her phone again. _“I know, but it’s more fair and official that way. Besides, what if you were already booked for next weekend?”_

“I would have made an extra space. It’s not every day someone like you comes to perform in a bar like mine.” He chuckled as Sona returned her attention to her phone, presumably typing something about why he should make it fair—even if it was her. “You’re later than usual. Did you get held up at home?”

Sona shook her head. Not wanting to erase what she already wrote, she made signs with her hands that she overslept and had to take care of things in a hurry.

“Ah. Seems like I was right. You go ahead and keep working on your piece.” Jhin then stood up with his lunchbox in hand. “Would you like the usual but with an extra shot of espresso?”

 _“That would be nice, thank you,”_ she signed. She watched Jhin disappear behind the employees only door and looked down at her phone. Oh. She forgot to show him her rant on why he should keep things fair for everyone. She sighed as she selected the text and deleted it.

Jhin came back out with his apron tied around his back, humming to the classical music as he began grinding coffee beans to brew.

Veigar watched him with a suspecting eye. It was weird to see his employer smile like that every time that lady came around. Not to mention, he hummed to himself a little more loudly than he usually does. He moved onto the woman in the sunhat, who had taken out a mini electric keyboard and plugged it into the nearby outlet. He raised a brow as he turned back to Jhin, who was now making an order no one asked for. Unless it was for her. His eyes followed Jhin as he went to deliver her order in person and exchange words with her. Or, from what he observed, his words and her texts.

“Is she your crush, Mister Khada?” he whispered after Jhin put in Sona’s payment into the register. The sound of cups accidentally clattering against each other in the sink answered his question.

“Well,” Jhin stuttered, “she is a regular here, I’m sure you’ve noticed. Has been, since my first opening of this place.”

“And you liked her for a while.”

Another clatter.

“Sorry.”

“She visited almost every day, and she was one of the first people I remembered what her order would be. I suppose she and I are friends? We have known each other for a few years, at this point.”

Veigar raised a brow as he noticed the woman glancing over her shoulder at Jhin. “Are you absolutely certain you don’t want to try asking her out?”

Jhin paused. “I like to keep my work and personal life separate, Veigar. I have never met her beyond these doors.” He simply smiled in acceptance. “It would be impolite of me to involve her in my personal life because of developed feelings.”

The young man suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and looked to the side with a shrug instead. “Your call, Mister Khada.” He went back to standing by the register to greet customers in. When Jhin disappeared to the back to retrieve a package, Veigar stared at the woman sitting by the window. He pursed his lips, tapping his finger against the counter in thought. “Hm…”

Sona had her earphones plugged into her mini keyboard, scribbling notes down onto pages and pages of staves. She was trying to create a piece to play for Jhin’s open mic night next weekend, something new from the usual classical music she always played in her concerts.

She looked at her drink, admiring the white, milky butterflies in her drink. It was almost too cute to drink. She took out her phone to snap a photo of it. It’d be a waste to drink this without having a photo to look at. She had a folder of photos of all the latte arts Jhin made because of the lovely designs he was able to make out of the ingredients.

She was about to take a sip when a tap on her shoulder turned her attention to the other employee of the café. He was holding a plate with a slice of tiramisu on it. She looked at the plate in confusion and tried to type on her phone that she didn’t order it.

 _“It’s on the house,”_ Veigar signed, surprising Sona that he could sign. _“Enjoy.”_ He gently placed the plate on top of a napkin and set a small fork on the plate.

Sona signed her thanks before reaching for the fork and took a bite. It was delicious! Then, something caught her eye. There was a folded piece of paper underneath the plate. She glanced at Veigar, who was preoccupied with a group of teens that wandered inside in curiosity. She unfolded the paper to see a hastily-written note inside. A soft gasp escaped her lips as she hid the paper in her pocket and shyly went back to her work.

Veigar pretended nothing happened when Jhin returned with crates of new wine and liqueur glasses. “Mister Khada, I’ll have to stop by the high school to pick up Lulu and drop her off at home in about an hour. I should be back before the bar opens.”

“Of course, Veigar. Feel free to just come back when the bar opens instead. You’re already working full-time to save up for university, after all.” He washed all the glasses and sorted them into cabinets. “I do not wish for you to overexert yourself by working so much. You’ve already had a hard past.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Mister Khada.”

* * *

 

Sona looked around the café after Veigar seemed to have left. There were very few customers left, most likely because Jhin’s bar was going to open soon. Minors and anyone under 21 years of age weren’t allowed inside an hour before the bar’s opening. She found Jhin patiently cleaning mugs and pots and arranging them into nice stacks on the counter. She reached into her pocket, feeling the edge of Veigar’s note with the tip of her finger.

_Not sure if you noticed, but Mister Khada likes you. Do what you will with this information._

She pursed her lips in thought. She kept looking back at Jhin, hoping to catch his eye so she can talk to him. But he had his back turned, more preoccupied with getting the mugs clean. Her fingernail tapped at the white key of her keyboard as she tried to think of something. Her hand then reached into her purse and took out a pen.

Jhin had finally finished washing all the mugs that were returned to him. He scanned the tables of the café to count the used mugs left. Only two and one plate. Strange. Sona must have ordered a cake while he was gone. He then noticed her approaching the counter with her cup and plate in her hands. “Oh, you didn’t have to. I could have gotten it myself.”

Shaking her head, Sona smiled as she handed it to Jhin. _“You’ve worked hard today, so I thought I should bring it over,”_ she signed. Her eyes quickly moved to the napkin in Jhin’s hand before turning away to pack her belongings and head home.

“Thank you, then.” He turned to the sink to wash the plate and mug until a handwriting on the napkin caught his eye. It was a phone number. Oh, perhaps Sona wrote down a number and forgot she had it. But Veigar’s voice echoed in the back of his head.

_“Are you absolutely certain you don’t want to try asking her out?”_

His lips formed a thoughtful line. It couldn’t be, right? He felt his hand reaching for his phone inside his pocket and dial the number on the screen. Blinking, he pushed the dial button and held it to his ear. Waiting.

A wind chime tone sounded from the window where Sona was. She reached into her purse and read the number on-screen. It was an unknown number. Her eyes glanced at Jhin’s direction. She hit the ‘answer’ button and played a quiet note on her keyboard.

Jhin froze. His head finally turned to Sona, who was now looking at him with a joyful smile.

 _“Now I have your number!”_ she happily signed.

“I, uh… why did you…”

Sona slightly blushed, her hand patting the pocket where the note was. _“I want to try getting to know you better, if that suffices?”_ She giggled when Jhin couldn’t give her a response. _“Feel free to delete my number if you do not want it. I won’t be offended.”_ She gave him a graceful curtsy and left with her keyboard and sheet music in a bigger bag.

After she left, Jhin found himself staring at the part of the window where he last saw her, his mouth slightly open. He looked at the back of the napkin, where another note was scribbled on it.

_Please text me, if you’d like!_

He bit the inside of his cheek to suppress a smile before he stuffed the napkin into his pocket.

Today was a better day than he expected.

* * *

 

“So I heard you gave a note to someone last week while I was gone.”

Veigar’s shoulders tensed up as he set a cup of coffee on the table while Jhin was setting up the stage for open mic night. “Uh…”

“Normally, I would have asked you not to do that next time. But I shall let this one slide because you have given me an opportunity to know her better.”

Realization hit Veigar like a triple shot of espresso. “Did you… get her number?” Jhin’s silent smile made his brows raise up in surprise. “You got her number. Have you two… talked? At all?”

“Texted, rather. She’s mute, so she cannot call.”

“I figured, but you two still talked anyways. Has anything happened?” Was that asking too much, he wondered.

“Well, we do have a date planned. After open mic tonight.”

“Oh shit,” Veigar said, impressed. “Uh, I mean…”

Jhin chuckled. “I’ll have to close early after the show, however. So you can also get a break for tonight.”

“You sure you don’t want me to handle it? I mean, I think I can deal with the drunk people who try to fight each other or if someone tries to pick a fight with me.”

“I did consider it, but that would require you to work alone. In a bar, you do not work alone, no matter how “classy” people say my bar is.” Jhin set up the microphone and connected the sound system and urged Veigar up to the stage to say something to adjust the sound.

“I can ask Kennen and Akali to fill in for you. Besides, they’re trained in martial arts.” He paused. “And with your schedule… you’re going to get a full house. Doubt you’d want to close early when people will be flooding in after hearing about it.”

Veigar was right. They could get lots of business and possible sponsors after tonight. Especially when Sona was going to be performing. Perhaps closing early was a bad idea. “I can certainly pay Akali and Kennen for filling in for me, but you need to ask them first.”

“I did.” Veigar shrugged. “I asked them a few days ago if they’d be willing to help out on open mic night if you needed the extra hands.”

Jhin found it more amusing that Veigar thought this far ahead and kept it as a backup plan. He was indeed suited for a business major. “If they say they are willing to help out, then I will keep the bar open as long as you three tidy up afterwards.” The young man had already pulled his phone to text Akali and Kennen the affirmative before Jhin even finished his sentence.

“They’re on board.”

“Fantastic. Thank you, Veigar.” Jhin worked with Veigar long enough to trust him with handling his store while he was gone. All he had to worry about now was the open mic night and his date tonight.

* * *

 

It was a full house before the show even reached halfway through the performers. There were lots of good talents this weekend, Jhin admitted. So far, the schedule ranged from comedians to singers. The guest of honor was written to be a surprise, but news must have gotten out that Sona was going to perform at his bar as the closing act.

Oh well. How could he not complain? He was getting business. He swiftly slid two glasses of whiskeys to two men sitting by the counter and chuckled at the comedian’s punchline.

“Mister Khada, I’m seeing someone who’s getting harassed by a customer. I would like to intervene, if that’s possible.” Akali pointed to a young woman who looked uncomfortable as her “date” was getting too close with their boundaries. “I promise I won’t make a mess.”

“Do what you must, then.” He turned away to another customer asking for another glass as Akali approached the table in quiet, seething fury. “Ah, Shen. I’m surprised you’ve come all the way here just for a drink.”

Shen held up his glass in acknowledgement. “Thought I should make sure my students don’t make a ruckus. I’m keeping watch on how much I drink though.”

“As you always should. How is Zed?”

“Angry. As usual. But he’s been doing better since his new student came along.” He took a sip of his drink. “I think he’s learning a little more responsibility and patience training this kid. The kid’s got potential to be just as great as Akali.”

“The next generation of Shen and Zed, it seems.” The two shared a laugh before Jhin headed backstage to greet the remaining performers. Okay, he just wanted to talk to Sona. But not without a disguise. He slipped on a mask to avoid being identified and hid his name tag in his pocket. To others, he would have seemed like another performer for tonight. He found Sona sitting in the back corner reading her sheet music intensely. He tapped her shoulder.

Sona first looked at him in confusion before realization flooded into her eyes. She playfully nudged him before he stood by her side. _“You sure know how to change impressions rather quickly.”_

Jhin chuckled quietly. “I may be a barista at dawn and a bartender by evening, but I’m also an actor.”

_“Is that why you have these open mic nights?”_

“Yes. I like to see other talents sometimes. I’ve gone up there on the stage without anyone recognizing me.”

_“Really? I’ve never noticed whenever I visited.”_

“I’m that good at disguises, what can I say?” They laughed to themselves and listened to the the audience clap for the next performer. There were three more people left before Jhin had to go up on stage to introduce Sona as the guest of honor. “I must get back. I am looking forward to your piece.” He bowed his head before he left to mix more drinks for his customers.

Sona’s eyes followed Jhin with happiness. She was glad he stopped by to talk to her. She was beginning to feel anxious from hearing how many people have come to the bar. Truthfully, she was looking forward to their date more than her own performance. To think she gave him her number so boldly, only to get a text back from him the same night. Excitement bubbled inside her as she kept thinking about it.

Once the final performer finished their skit, Jhin stepped up to the spotlight with a microphone in hand. He watched the audience murmur and whisper about a rumor that was floating around social media. “I’m sure most of you have heard about the rumor that Miss Sona Buvelle was going to perform here as the guest of honor, am I right?” Most people in the audience cheered. “Guess what? It’s true. May I introduce Sona Buvelle as a special guest of tonight’s open mic show.” He stepped off the stage as Sona walked up to the piano.

She bowed to the crowd, earning an applause before she took a seat before the piano. She played an upbeat tune that had the audience clap to the music and cheer as she reached the chorus. Some even stood up to dance around the stage in their drunken joy. Sona laughed at the two men who were holding their glasses of whiskey and nearly stumbling over each other.

The audience chanted, “Encore! Encore! Encore!”

Sona glanced at Jhin, who shrugged and nodded with an amused smile. She laughed before playing an encore of the song again.

 

“Have fun at your date, Mister Khada,” Kennen teased. “We should be able to take care of everything from here. I don’t think anyone will want to leave anytime soon..”

Jhin had changed into a more casual attire suitable for a late night date. A collared shirt, dress pants, and a trench coat. He hoped it wasn’t too formal. “Yes, I will make sure to pay you and Akali for taking time out of your schedule to help Veigar with the bar tonight. Thank you for the help so far.”

“You might want to hurry out the door. Lady S is waiting for you in the back.”

“Ha, is Lady S supposed to be code for her name?” he asked in a chuckle.

“Yup! It’s mysterious and sounds like an agent name. See ya!” Kennen disappeared into the bar to help Veigar. Akali also walked out the employees only door once she sent Jhin out to meet Sona.

Sona waited for Jhin by the back door with a shawl around her shoulders. She kept her outfit from her performance, but she tied her hair into a bun with a comb with golden flowers on them to hold it in place. _“Ready to go?”_

He held his hand out with a smile. “Whenever you are.”

Giggling, she took his hand and walked out to his car. _“Anything we’re doing tonight?”_

“I was thinking of a movie and dinner. Rather cliché, I understand, but I think it’s a good start.” He started the engine and slowly backed out of the parking lot. “If you have another suggestion, I’m all ears.”

_“No, a movie and dinner sounds great!”_

“Wonderful! Let’s get going then, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to start out with a milder AU before I get into any crazy ones. You'll see ones that dive more into fantasy themes very soon!


	3. Ambrosia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flower Shop AU - Sona and her mother owns a flower shop that Jhin frequents for his artwork.

Poppies, roses, daisies, sunflowers, and flowers of different kinds colored the front and inside of a shop among the lines of other stores and cafes in the street. It was hard to miss the burst of bright colors and arrangements, even from far away. A sign read “Buvelle Blossoms” on top in beautiful, handpainted cursive with a golden flower painted around the letters.

A woman walked out to the front, a watering can in hand, and watered the flowers and herbs in the front. The drops of water on the flower petals and leaves glistened in the sunlight as the stream of water passed by them. She patted the dirt in some pots to determine if a plant didn’t need any more water. 

“Sona, dear, can you help me with a floral arrangement please?” a voice called out from inside.

Sona turned to walk inside to help her mother.  _ “What event is it for?” _ she signed.

“According to this… lengthy email,” Lestara paused to give Sona her phone, “it seems this young man didn’t do so well with his lover. He even paid in advance for this bouquet to make his apology as clear as possible.”

Scrolling through the message, Sona smiled in sympathy at the sender’s name. 

Garen Crownguard, the son of a prestigious family that supported a political family, the Lightshields, as bodyguards. Clearly in a relationship with the head of another political family, Katarina du Couteu. Very clear to almost everyone in town. It was a surprise his parents or the Lightshields hadn’t noticed yet, except his younger sister. His love and care for her was apparent in his email, going so far as to apologize and thank them for their trouble in making his bouquet. 

She placed Lestara’s phone back on the table.  _ “Do we have any purple hyacinths?” _

Lestara tapped her nails against the wooden table in thought. “I believe we’re running out. I’ll have to order more after this, since I get the feeling we might use what we have left.” She chuckled to herself as she gathered roses of red and dark pink. “Will you get the hyacinths for me? And any other flowers you think might be necessary for this order.”

Sona walked through the aisles of flowers, whispering flower names under her breath. She carefully took out the purple hyacinths from their glass vase and shook the excess water off their stems. She then looked around her for other flowers that she can use for this bouquet. Her eyes spotted tulips that were in full bloom. Plucking a few red and many white ones, she returned to her mother and laid them on the table.

“Tulips?”

_ “I think they would go well with his message and how much he loves her,” _ Sona replied.

“Hopefully it comes across to her then.” The two laughed as they began arranging the flowers into a colorful bouquet with the red roses and tulips forming a heart among the yellow tulips and placing the hyacinths inside the heart. “Uh-oh, I think we’re running out of ribbons.”

_ “I think we still have one more roll in the back. I’ll go get it.” _ Sona hurried into the back room, her twintails bouncing with her steps. 

“Take your time, dear! I’ll just hold them with a rubber band for now!” While Lestara was wrapping the bouquet in pink paper, she heard a shy knock on their open glass door and looked up. “Come in, dear. We’re just about to finish up.”

A shy-looking young man walked in with a book in his hand. “Good afternoon, Miss Buvelle. How are you?”

“Fixing up a bouquet for the lovely bodyguard who needs to apologize to his lover.” They exchanged knowing looks and chuckled. “Sona should be coming out soon, Jhin. She’s just getting me another roll of ribbons to wrap this up.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you helped me too, Miss Buvelle. I am here to buy more flowers for my next piece, anyways.”

The first half was a lie, and Lestara knew it. “Nonsense. Besides, Sona knows more about flowers than I do. You’re better off getting her help.” 

Jhin fell silent in embarrassment. Even after so long, he couldn't hide his heart from Miss Buvelle. Was it the power of motherhood, he wondered. He took a moment to collect himself before looking around the shop. 

“Mother, I found the ribbon,” a robotic, female voice sounded from the back. Sona walked out with a roll of red ribbons with white hearts on it and her phone, which was reading out her text. “It was in the bottom of the box, so we’ll have to order more soon.” She paused when she saw Jhin looking at red roses and sketching them in his book. Her eyes darted to Lestara, who was trying to suppress a grin behind her happy smile. Sona playfully nudged her mother in the arm before approaching Jhin.

_ “Welcome back, Jhin,” _ she signed.

“Hello, Sona,” he greeted back while signing ‘hello’.  _ “How are you?” _

_ “Good! How is your sign language?” _

He shrugged bashfully.  _ “I’m definitely getting better. Not the best, but I'm getting there.” _

Sona’s eyes smiled as she gave him two thumbs-up. She then took out her phone to type a message into it. “What kind of flowers are you looking for today? Did you bring a photo of what you made last time?”

“Yes, I did! Hold on.” Jhin tapped an app and handed his phone to her. “I decided to name it “Golden Bells”, because the yellow daisies scattered around reminded me of ripples of sound that would come from a bell.” He watched her eyes widen with fascination and smiled. “I’ve already thought of a theme for my next piece, but I wasn’t sure what kind of flowers would go well with it.”

Handing his phone back, Sona started typing into her phone again. “What’s the theme?”

“Butterflies. I had this vision of a snowy day, and the crystallization of someone’s breath looked like butterflies. White and blue color scheme, to be more specific.” He opened his sketchbook to show Sona a few thumbnails. “Butterflies are usually associated with spring, but I thought it would also give a sense of irony to the idea.”

_ “I like it! It sounds nice.” _ She typed into her phone again. “Did you have a certain meaning in mind? It might be easier to narrow down your selection of white and blue flowers that way.”

Jhin sighed. “Sadly, no. I was thinking of using white roses, but they have a different meaning in our culture, something I’d like to avoid for this piece. I wouldn’t want to put the meaning of death in something as beautiful as crystal and snowflakes.” He pursed his lips as he turned to Sona, who was listening intently with a patient smile. “I seem to have rambled again…”

She shook her head reassuringly.  _ “It’s okay.” _ She guided him to a row of white flowers. She signed “no” for the flowers that would be used in funerals or with negative meanings to narrow down the choices for him. From the remaining selections, Jhin had to choose from camellias, daffodils, daisies, orchids, and carnations.

“What would you say would be the closest meaning of each flower in relation to my piece? I understand that flowers have multiple meanings, given the context.”

A pause. “Camellia, you’re adorable. Daffodil, respect or unrequited love or “you’re the only one”. Daisies, innocence or secrecy. Orchids, beauty and elegance. Carnation, perfect love.” 

He took this time to write down the notes. “Can we go see the blue flowers? This may take some time for me to think about what may be suitable for the meaning of my piece.” He followed Sona’s lead to a shelf of beautiful blue and indigo flowers. “Is there perhaps anything that means something like ‘unwavering’ or, ehm, ‘hope’, I suppose?”

Sona scanned the blue flowers and hovered her hand over a blue hyacinth and a blue iris.  _ “This is the closest to what you’re looking for. The blue hyacinth means ‘constancy’, while the blue iris means ‘hope and faith’. Anything else?” _

“No, these should do perfectly. Let’s see…” He looked through the shades of blue as if he was looking for something else. His eyes lit up as he spotted small flowers of baby blue. “Ah, there they are.” He gently took out a handful of forget-me-nots. “I think I will take these for today. I must press them before I use them on the canvas.”

Her eyes lingered on the forget-me-nots, her hand slightly tightening around her phone.  _ “What are they for?” _ she signed.

Jhin smiled. “Believe it or not, it will also be used in my next piece. But I can’t give away anything more than that.” He held the flowers closer to him. “It will be featured in my upcoming gallery, once I finish it. Or, at least I hope it will be featured in it.” He looked up at Sona with hopeful eyes. “I was wondering if you and your mother would like to come see the grand opening. Free tickets, of course.”

She couldn’t do anything other than nod. She tried to keep a happy smile as she followed Jhin to the counter. After ringing up his purchase, she tugged at his sleeve to catch his attention. Her text read, “Come back soon?” without her text-to-speech function.

“Of course. I may even come back tomorrow. I’ll see you.” He gave her hand a gentle pat and let it linger before he left their flower shop. 

Lestara was secretly watching from the back, shaking her head at how oblivious the two were to each other’s longing touches. “I’m starting to wonder—” She stopped. “Sona, dear, are you alright?”

Sona whipped around with worry darkening her face.  _ “Mother, I think he has someone he likes. He bought forget-me-nots. Forget-me-nots!” _

Oh, here we go. Lestara blinked, not having expected this reaction. “Don’t they represent reminiscing memories?” 

_ “They also represent true love. I don’t, I really, am I wrong?” _ she signed in a panic.  _ “He must like someone else if he bought forget-me-nots for his next piece… He didn’t even tell me more about it.” _

“Sona, dear…”

_ “I was hoping… he might like me back.” _ Her head and shoulders drooped in dejection.  _ “Maybe I was wrong.” _

“Have you perhaps given it thought that he liked how they looked? Or how small they were to use on a canvas?” 

_ “It’s possible…” _

Lestara smiled sympathetically and hugged her daughter tightly. “Oh, Sona…” She patted her back as she leaned her chin on Sona’s hair. “Don’t you think that he might like you back?” Sona bit her lower lip and sighed through her nose. “I don’t think an uninterested person would let their touch linger like that, honey. Nor would they pat your hand before they leave. Or invite you to their upcoming gallery for free.”

_ “Now you’re teasing me.” _

“Oh no, I’m just stating facts.” She released Sona and pecked her forehead. “You’re still young, Sona. You have plenty of time to keep trying.”

_ “I’m more weirded out that you’re so supportive of… this.” _ She gestured to her heart and the outside, referring to Jhin.

“Ah, young love. I just want to see you live a good and happy life, Sona. You’ve already graduated with a master’s degree in music. Now, you’re in love.” She paused as she seemed to have remembered something. “Actually, I believe I may have seen you fall in love with him while you were still studying. He graduated that year when you both met, if I recall correctly.”

Sona chose to ignore the last two comments. She sometimes hated how perceptive her mother was.  _ “Didn’t you used to tell me love wasn’t the answer to a happy life?” _

“It’s still not,” she immediately answered. “If it was, I would have had a husband by now. But I don’t carry much interest in that.” She chuckled at Sona rolling her eyes at her response. “But my point is that you seem happy to be in love with Jhin. If he causes you heartbreak though, I am kicking him out of the store.”

_ “So, you mean if he tells me that he likes someone else?” _

“Exactly.”

_ “Mother!” _

Lestara giggled mischievously as she pat Sona’s head. “Just a joke, dear. But really, I think you’ll be just fine.”

Sona sighed again.  _ “If you say so.” _ She turned back to the counter, where the apology bouquet sat on top of it.  _ “Is there anything else we could do for that bouquet?” _

“All we can do is wait. He’ll be picking it up within an hour or so, if the time on his email is still correct.” Lestara tapped the email again to find the time. “Yes, he should be coming soon.” She chuckled at the email again. “Garen Crownguard. I never thought I’d live to see the day that boy breaks his usual uptight personality. To think a woman, his lover no less, would bring out a whole new side out of him.”

_ “Funny what love can do to people.” _

“Like you?”

Sona mocked anger and nudged her mother’s shoulder.  _ “Ha ha.” _

* * *

 

Orchestral covers played through Sona’s headphones as she dusted the front of the shop before taking the pots of flowers out. She stepped in sync with the music with her broom in hand, almost dancing with it like it was another person. Her steps eventually became more elaborate and turned into a dance of her own. But then she turned around. 

And there was Jhin, watching in fascinated amusement with a bag slung around his shoulder. 

A soft whining noise came from Sona’s throat as she crouched behind the buckets of flowers in shame. Her ears turned bright red, steam threatening to burst out as she dug her face into her skirt. There were times when she was glad she was mute. This was one of them. If she had a voice, she would have woken up the entire town with her scream.

Jhin was hiding a smile behind his hand, a light blush on his cheeks. “I apologize. I tried to let you know I was here, but you didn’t seem to hear me.” Sona started signing rapidly while still hiding her face, presumably signing every curse she knew and can think of on the top of her head. “I promise I won’t laugh. I thought it was endearing.”

Sona peeked, her face still red, and looked up at Jhin.  _ “Promise?” _

_ “Promise,” _ he signed back. He even crossed his heart.

Hesitant, Sona stood up and dusted her blue skirt. She couldn’t bear to look at Jhin in the eye while she was still blushing beet red. 

“It was a lovely dance, Sona. I actually liked it,” Jhin tried to say. 

She quickly pulled out her phone and furiously typed something into her phone. “No. No. No. No. I can’t tell you how embarrassed I am that you saw me. I don’t think you understand how mortified I am.”

“Would it help if I said it was… cute?”

Her blush now spread to her fingers as she typed on her phone again. “No, that’s worse, you ass.”

Jhin broke out into laughter. “But it was! You dance wonderfully, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you dance before.”

“Shhh. Don’t.”

He snorted at how little emotion the speech function spoke in, when Sona must have been wanting to scream at him. “Before you start yelling at me again, I was wondering if you would like to stop by my studio next weekend.” He pointed behind him with his thumb. “It’s a short walk from here, and I wanted to show you some of the works I will be featuring in the gallery.”

Sona’s gaze remained on her screen. “What about your new painting?”

“It should be finished by then. I want to get your opinion on it before I show it to anyone else.”

What if his painting was for another person? Another person he liked? Another person that wasn’t her? Worry plagued her heart, but she refused to let it escape from its cage. She forced a happy smile and nodded. “I would love to see your work in person. I can be there on Saturday evening.”

“Fantastic. I will look forward to your visit.”

“Did you run out of the orchids you bought? We don’t have blue hyacinths at the moment, so you’ll have to wait until this weekend for more.”

“No. I just came to ask you about coming to my studio.”

She couldn’t help but giggle.  _ “All this trouble for me?” _ she signed as a joke.

Jhin’s expression softened as he watched her laugh.  _ “Why not?” _ he signed back. He slightly bowed his head to her. “Please give Miss Buvelle my regards. I’ll be heading back to my studio to work on the piece. I’ll see you soon, Sona.” He briskly walked away to hide a blush that he felt was becoming more apparent the longer he stayed.

Sona pressed her cheek against the top of the broom, stuffing her phone into her pocket, as she watched his figure disappear around the corner. She started repeatedly bumped her forehead against the tip of the broom, the memory of Jhin’s smiling eyes from catching her dance flooding back into her memory. 

“Sounds like you might have a date on next Saturday,” Lestara said from behind Sona, who jumped and dropped the broom. “Am I wrong?”

_ “I wouldn’t call it a date. He just invited me to see his works early,” _ she signed with shaky hands.  _ “It’s not like he meant it any other way.” _ Right?

Lestara shrugged but with a smug look. “If you say so, dear.” She went back inside without another word. Sona chased after her for answers, not knowing what her mother was thinking behind that smile of hers.

* * *

 

The doorbell chimed as a woman closed the door shut behind her. There was no one around the flower shop to greet her. Strange. “Miss Lestara? Miss Sona?”

“We’ll be right there! Give us a moment!” Lestara and Sona appeared from the back, carrying a large box full of new plants. 

“Oh dear. Let me help.” The woman rushed to the back to catch the corner of the box that threatened to topple over from their hands. They set it on the counter and took a moment to relax. “Glad I came just in time.”

Lestara arched her back to stretch from hunching over for the past few hours. “Our apologies, Miss Soraka. We were sorting new shipments of flowers this entire afternoon.”

Soraka chuckled. “No worries at all. Is that the last box?”

“Luckily, yes. We just need to sort these where they belong, but I think we’re in need of a break.” She gestured Sona to Soraka. “Would you mind helping her, dear? I’m going to get some water.”

Sona nodded and walked over to Soraka’s side.  _ “Something you need today?” _

“I’ve been wanting to brighten up my office after my orchids wilted while I was on a trip. Shame I couldn’t salvage them. They were completely shriveled by the time I came back.” She smelled the hibiscus and let out a satisfied smile. “I did some research about lavender recently and found that their scent has a wonderful calming effect. I thought it might be nice to have those for therapy sessions with my patients.”

Her eyes brightened as she looked at the box they carried earlier.  _ “The lavender should be in that box. How many would you like?” _

“Hmmm…” Soraka hummed in thought as she scrolled through the photos of her phone. “My office is medium-sized, and I would at least like to smell a bit of lavender whenever I walk in.

Sona tapped her chin.  _ “I would put maybe four to five pots of lavender around the room.” _ She guided Soraka to the counter and took out a few varieties of lavender, sniffing for the ones with a stronger scent. She isolated a handful of stems and five handfuls of weaker-scented ones. 

“Oh, that’s a lovely shade of violet.”

_ “You always did like that color.” _ Sona giggled.  _ “Strong scented lavender might not look great, so I’m surrounding them with common ones to brighten the scent, if that makes sense.” _

“I’m inclined to agree.” Soraka saved a few pages on taking care of lavender as Sona planted them in small pots. After idly watching people pass by the shop, some looking at the flowers inside, Soraka signed,  _ “So, how are you and that young man doing?” _

Sona’s fingers curled in as if they touched fire. Her eyes darted to the side in embarrassment.  _ “Who, who do you mean?” _

_ “You know, that young artist who’s been frequently coming here for a few years now,” _ Soraka signed, chuckling at Sona’s blush.  _ “Khada Jhin, I believe his name was? I saw an advertisement that he was going to open his gallery soon.” _

Her blush spread to her ears.  _ “Does… everyone know about… him?” _

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I believe some of the nearby shopkeepers might have an idea.”

Sona’s face contorted in humiliation as she slowly crouched behind the counter. Great. Just great. Not only did Soraka figure it out, but the other shopkeepers might have found out too. Is that why she saw that one barista across the street smile while she was talking to Jhin? Or those two bakers who had a weird look while Sona was excitedly talking about a new composition she made? Oh no. Everything made sense now.

“Did you tease her again, Miss Soraka?” her mother playfully scolded.

“I didn’t think it’d have that much of an effect on her,” Soraka said. She giggled as she looked over the counter. “Miss Sona, no one is judging you. There’s nothing wrong with falling in love with someone.”

_ “But people  _ know _ now!” _ she furiously signed.  _ “I know people know now! I can’t believe this.” _

Soraka was about to say something until a knock on the door following the ring of the doorbell caught her attention. “Oh! If it isn’t our local artist.”

Sona sucked in a sharp breath and gripped onto the hem of Lestara’s skirt, desperately shaking her head.

“Good afternoon, Miss Buvelle. Miss Soraka. Is Sona here?”

There was a pause as Lestara and Soraka exchanged glances and then shook their heads. “She stepped out for a stroll. You just missed her.”

Slight disappointment flashed in his eyes but was quickly masked. “Ah, is that so? Perhaps you can help me, Miss Buvelle. I ran out of the white orchids due to an unexpected mistake I made. I was hoping you had more?”

“Of course, dear. They should be near the window.” Lestara walked out from the counter, her voice quiet and low as she spoke with Jhin. They weren’t close enough for Sona to hear what they were talking about, but the sudden change of tone to a surprised “oh!” worried her. 

She peeked from the counter to see Lestara chuckling as she pat Jhin’s back. She took a deep breath and stood up with a nervous smile. Jhin noticed her immediately and seemed to brighten up. He went back to conversing with Lestara before approaching the counter.

“Just in time, Sona. I’m glad I caught you before I left.”

_ “What’s wrong?” _

Jhin’s lips parted as his eyes looked up to remember something. His lips pursed in helplessness before signing,  _ “Dinner?” _ He scratched the back of his head. “I wanted to ask if you would like dinner at a restaurant after I show you some of my work.”

Soraka gasped behind her fingers. “Ooh, you want to take Miss Sona out for dinner, I see,” she sang. 

The artist laughed in embarrassment before looking up at Lestara. “If, if you don’t mind me picking her up early, of course, Miss Buvelle. I promise I will bring her back before her curfew, if she has one.”

Lestara joyfully shook her head. “Not at all, dear. Just bring her back safely, and I won’t kick you out of my store.”

“Of course, ma’am.” He looked at Sona, who hadn’t signed a word so far. “Don’t hesitate to let me know if you do not want to. I don’t wish to inconvenience you.”

Sona’s lips opened and closed a few times before she nodded. She held her phone up to him with a text that read,  _ I would love to. _

“Fantastic! I’ll come pick you up around sunset, if you’re fine with that?”

She nodded silently, her eyes still wide from surprise.

“How close are you to finishing your final piece, Jhin?”

“Very close. I’ve already painted the base and added the blue flowers. I just need to add in the white petals next once they crystallize.”

“What are the daffodils for?” Soraka asked. “I remember you mentioning something about a winter theme in your last work. I didn’t think you’d add yellow daffodils to this one.”

The paper crinkled in Jhin’s fingers as he brought up a bouquet of golden flowers. “I looked up a few flower meanings before I came here, and I found that daffodils are close to how I feel. The color suits the blue also.” He smiled shyly as he placed the flowers inside his bag. “I shall be taking my leave then. Good-bye.”

They waved him good-bye and turned back to Sona, who was frozen in place. Lestara cleared her throat to gain her attention. Sona blinked rapidly before she returned to reality.  _ “I thought, I thought I was going to die of a heart attack.” _

“Seems Miss Sona has a dinner date this weekend,” Soraka teased, watching Sona’s fair skin turn red. “Young love, right?”

Lestara huffed in amusement. “You’re telling me.” She helped Sona plant the rest and packing the pots in bags. “Make sure not to overwater the lavender. I’m sure your patients will love the new flowers, Miss Soraka.”

Soraka smiled as she took the bags into her hands. “I’m sure they would too. Thank you, you two. Enjoy the rest of your day!” She exited the flower shop and went on her way to her office.

After a few minutes of silence, Lestara nudged Sona on the arm. “Look at you. You get a first look at his gallery  _ and _ a dinner date.”

_ “And it’s this Saturday, too…” _ Sona signed, dumbfounded.

“You mean the day after tomorrow,” Lestara stated.

Her lips tightened into a flat line when her hands stopped midair in realization. She checked the date on her phone. It was Thursday.   _ “It’s the day after tomorrow? Oh my god.” _ Sona dropped her phone on the counter and covered her face in her hands. 

“Nervous?”

_ “More than nervous! What if I screw it up? What if I accidentally blurt out that I like him?” _ She pinched the bridge of her nose.  _ “I don’t want to make it awkward between us. I definitely don’t want him to avoid me either.” _

Lestara cleared her throat to suppress a chuckle. “Sona, honey, you’re worrying too much. Just let the date happen. Just let whatever happens happen.”

_ “That’s not easy to do, mother. Especially when you’re in front of someone you like.” _ Sona sighed and picked her phone back up again. She tapped on the email from Jhin that contained two free tickets for her and her mother to his upcoming gallery. Her eyes then darted to the side.  _ “He bought daffodils.” _

“He did.”

Daffodils had different meanings depending on the context. It usually meant a regard for the other, a message for a lover, or…  _ Unrequited love, _ she thought. Sona sighed again in dejection. There was no way he could have been talking about her, right? If other shopkeepers knew about her affection towards Jhin, he must have known too. Was this meant to be an indirect, but polite way of telling her he can’t reciprocate her feelings?

Lestara clapped her hands to snap Sona out of her thoughts. “Now I know you’re overthinking things.” She smiled and kissed Sona’s head. “I promise you as your mother and a fellow woman that your feelings won’t be taken for granted.” She chuckled when Sona raised a brow in confusion. “You’ll see what I mean.”

* * *

 

“Mother, is this dress really necessary?” Sona’s phone read. “This seems like overkill.”

“You call  _ this _ overkill for a dinner date? It’s just a dress, dear.”

Sona was wearing a v-neck blue dress with golden flowers designed into the hem and climbing up to the waistline. She pulled her white cardigan closer to her chest in embarrassment. She typed into her phone. “But this is the dress I wore for my performances.”

Lestara turned Sona around to look at her outfit. She shrugged. “I don’t see anything wrong with wearing this to a dinner date. It becomes a casual-formal dress without the sash and cape you wear anyways.”

_ “I guess.” _

“Jhin should be arriving to the flower shop soon, so you head down first. I’ll be watching from the back.”

Hesitation planted her feet into the wooden stairs that lead upstairs from the flower shop to their home.  _ “Are you sure this is a good idea?” _

“More than certain, honey. Now get out there!” Lestara gently helped Sona down the stairs to the back of the shop. “Tell me everything that happens when you get back, okay?”

Sona couldn’t understand why her mother was more excited about this than she was. But she had no time to question her. Jhin was probably waiting in the shop. She nervously stepped out of the door to see Jhin in a fuschia collared shirt and a grey vest on top with black slacks. He was checking his watch before looking up to see Sona by the door tucking in a strand of hair behind her ear. 

He gave her a heartwarming smile that made her want to melt.  _ “You look… beautiful,”  _ he signed.

A blush colored her cheeks as her lips curled into a smile against her fingers.  _ “Thank you,” _ she signed back.  _ “I’m ready to go when you are.” _

“Great.” He opened the door of the shop and gestured outside. “After you.” He gave Lestara, who poked her head out to wave him good-bye, a bow of his head before escorting her to his studio. “How was your day today?”

Sona scratched her cheek before answering with her phone, “Good! Garen stopped by today to thank us for the bouquet we made last week for Miss Katarina. He gave us some cooking supplies since he didn’t know what else to give us. His words.”

Jhin chuckled to himself. “I find it amusing to see them try so hard to hide their relationship when everyone knows already. Well, almost everyone. But I admire their effort.” He noticed that Sona was a little more quiet than usual. He slightly bent his back to her level, stepping a little closer to her. “Is something on your mind?”

She did a double-take at Jhin, letting out a breath she was holding in. Quick, think of something. “Sorry. I've never seen your work in person before, so I'm excited to see your final piece too. You finished it, right?”

“I did. The crystallizing of the orchid petals took some time, but I managed to get it finished.” He squeezed the strap of his shoulder bag as he pursed his lips, turning around the corner with Sona following next to him. “Uh, Sona, can I ask you something?”

_ “What is it?” _

“Do you think it strange to draw someone you're inspired by? Someone you've been friends with for a while, but you want to change that?”

This question might have been risky, but Sona couldn't handle the suspense anymore.  _ “Is your Butterflies piece a confession?” _ she spelled out the last word in letters.

Jhin gazed at her in surprise. “I… yes… was it that obvious?”

She knew it. Sona smiled a little sadly, nodding. 

He exhaled, holding his hand to his face. “I suppose you would've figured it out eventually, since the flowers I used had a romantic context to their meaning.” He hummed in thought as he looked at Sona, who seemed to droop like a wilting rose. Something clicked in his head. She didn't realize it yet, did she? “Sona,” he called out to her with the gentlest voice. When Sona refused to look at him, he slipped his hand under hers, surprising her to look at him. “You’ll like what I made. I'm sure you will understand it immediately.”

They stopped in front of a building painted white and maintained cleanly. Jhin guided her upstairs to a door, unlocking it with a key and opening it for her to see. Sona was greeted by canvases and canvases of flowers painted onto them with oils, acrylics, charcoals, and so many other mediums. She breathed out in speechlessness. There were no words to describe how stunning each piece looked up close. 

Many flowers were either pressed or fixed to maintain their fresh appearance, but they were beautifully incorporated into each artwork without looking gaudy or like an afterthought.

Jhin watched Sona observe his work with such mesmerization that he wondered how she would react to what he made for his final piece. He idly walked around the room as Sona went through each canvas. “My apologies for the scattered arrangement. I had to move them all to my living room to make the transferring easier for the moving people.”

Oh, so this was his apartment. 

This was his apartment. 

Sona felt her ears turn hot. She brushed her hair near her head to hide them as she moved onto the canvas hung up on the wall, covered by a beige sheet and lit by a spotlight. She turned to Jhin, who urged her to be the one to reveal the final masterpiece. Sona turned back to the canvas. It was one of the largest canvas among his other work, and she was able to see the flower petals pop from behind the sheet. Her hand slowly grabbed onto the corner of the sheet.

Jhin had held her hand before they arrived, reassuring her that she would like it.

She pulled it off the canvas, wondering what was hidden underneath.

He said that she would understand it immediately.

Her breath caught in her throat as the sheet revealed the artwork behind it. She stepped back in awe, looking at the whole canvas.

It was her. Her hair was colored with pressed forget-me-nots with the blue hyacinths accenting the former’s bright blue. The flowers hid her eyes, but she smiled in the painting, her breath turning into crystallized orchids that looked like butterflies and white wisps of paint. On her ear was a bouquet of daffodils, which protruded out the most from the pressed hyacinths and crystallized orchids. She looked so beautiful.

“What do you think? It was hard to come up with a message that wasn't so straightforward.” He lowered his head with a shy smile. “This is how I wanted to convey my feelings to you before I displayed it in my gallery.” 

Sona slowly turned to Jhin in surprise. This had to mean differently. Was this piece… really for her?

Jhin chuckled nervously. “I've been practicing this for the past week, but please bear with me. I'm still not very fast at sign language.” He cleared his throat and brought his hands up.  _ “I fell in love with you a few years ago, when we were friends. It was winter, when you were back for winter break. I was going through dark times, but I remember when you approached me with a bouquet of roses of all colors because you saw that I didn't seem like myself recently.” _ He took a deep breath.  _ “You told me how flowers contain a beauty of their own, like how you saw my art containing a hidden beauty. I began experimenting with my art, and thanks to your bouquet, I was able to start my next painting using those roses. Your kind and faithful words brought me back up to my feet, and I began to fall deeper in love with you since then.” _

Sona’s heart began racing as she interpreted his signs.

_ “At first, I tried to hold it back. I didn't want to ruin the friendship we already had. But then, I saw that our feelings may have been mutual.” _

A squeak came from Sona as she covered her mouth with her hands.  _ “You knew?! You knew all this time?!” _

Jhin averted his gaze. “I expected this reaction, and I still don't know how to respond to it. Ehm… How do I say this… I didn't want to assume your feelings, so I kept telling myself that it was just me and my own feelings.”

Sona then started typing into her phone. “And to think I thought you had feelings for someone else this past week. I am stupidly embarrassed.” She crouched on the floor and dug her head into her knees. 

A quiet chuckle soon turned into laughter. “You really thought I had feelings for someone else? Why else would I visit the flower shop so frequently, especially those times when I went to buy just one flower?”

_ “Work, maybe,” _ she signed while still hiding her face. 

“When I could have gone to any other flower shop in town?”

_ “Shut up.” _ She lifted her head to type into her phone. “I want to crawl into a hole and live there forever.”

Jhin kneeled in front of Sona after recovering from his bout of laughter. “Then how would you see the rest of what I want to say to you?” He patiently waited for Sona to meet his eyes, her own hesitant but asking him to continue. He chuckled before signing again.  _ “I wanted to convey my feelings to you before it was too late. Before I finally decided to tell myself to give up.”  _ He pointed to his masterpiece above them.  _ “Everything about you is so beautiful and elegant like the orchids, from the way you talk about flowers to the way you dance to your music.” _

Sona playfully slapped him on the arm for the last part, shaking her head with a smile on her face and earning another laugh from him.

_ “My feelings for you have never wavered, and I've always loved how sincere you were in our conversations—like the blue hyacinths. But my heart would never forget you. I couldn’t forget the way you left my heart longing for you. Just like the forget-me-nots.” _

_ “And the daffodils?” _ she asked, pointing to the golden flowers that adorned her hair.

“Oh, those.” Jhin cupped Sona’s hands in his and gazed into her eyes with a loving expression. “The daffodils weren't meant to represent unrequited love, if what I assume you were thinking earlier was correct. I wanted to say that the sun always shines brighter when you are around. Even when it storms or overcast, you brighten up my day.” He brushed a lock of hair away from Sona’s eyes.  _ “I suppose what I want to ask is, would you like to go out with me?” _

Sona, overwhelmed by joy, nodded and threw her arms around his neck, holding him tightly in her embrace. Happiness wasn't enough to describe the feelings that wanted to burst out of her. But she was so happy. So ecstatic. Their feelings were mutual after all. She felt his arms wrap around her back, holding her tightly. They lingered a moment longer before releasing each other. 

The clicking of her keyboard filled in the silence as she typed a message. “If I rejected you, what were you going to do with the painting?”

“I was going to ask for your consent to hang it up in the gallery. I wouldn't have, if you felt uncomfortable about it.”

“I'm more impressed that you thought about different scenarios.”

“Well, with a confession like mine, I had to take them into consideration. But I'm glad it turned out for the best.” Jhin kissed the back of her hand before helping her stand up. “So, how would you like that dinner to be our first date?”

Sona snorted and typed into her phone again. “Were you planning on the dinner to be a date?”

He admittedly shrugged. “Only if it turned out you reciprocated my feelings. Otherwise, I would've taken you out as a friend.”

She rolled her eyes with a smile and linked her arm with his.  _ “Then what are we waiting for? We should get dinner soon.” _

“Gladly.” They walked out of his apartment, Sona leaning her head on his shoulder while Jhin nuzzled his cheek against her hair.

* * *

 

Guests immediately noted the gentle aroma of flowers when they entered Jhin’s gallery, attracted by the burst of color beyond the glass windows. They wandered around the gallery, looking at Jhin’s artworks in awe. A few repeatedly stepped back and closer to examine the techniques and strokes. In front of each canvas was an open glass box that contained a vase of flowers used for the painting, the flowers neatly arranged to compliment each other, and a plaque that stated the meanings of the flowers.

The bigger canvases lured crowds to their beauty, but the most crowded was “Butterflies”, which displayed a vase of white orchids, blue hyacinths, forget-me-nots, daffodils, and two pink ambrosias in the center. The guests approached the vase to read the meanings, but the ambrosia’s was missing.

Where was the artist responsible for these gorgeous paintings though? 

Jhin stood among the crowd beside Sona and Lestara and watched the guests marvel at his work while guiding the two around. 

“It's so clever how the artist stained the petals. It almost looks natural.”

“Doesn't it? I especially love how he uses roses frequently in his works. I've been following his Insta since he started posting his flower series.”

“No way, he has an account? Send me the name, I want to see more stuff he made!”

Sona elbowed Jhin.  _ “Your Insta is going to flood with comments and new followers later. How do you feel about that?” _

_ “A little overwhelmed, but at least my art will be known more,” _ he signed back. He placed his hand on his chest and exhaled.  _ “I'm nervous to make a speech though. I'm not good with crowds.” _

_ “You'll be fine!” _ Sona held his hand and gave it a little squeeze to reassure him.  _ “I'll be near you when you do.” _

_ “Thanks.” _ Jhin squeezed her hand back.

Lestara cleared her throat. “I think I'm going to leave you two alone for a bit. I'll be wandering around the gallery, dears.” She chuckled, walking away to another painting with a little wave of her fingers.

Jhin and Sona flushed red in realization Lestara was watching them this entire time. They couldn't bring her back by the time they recovered. She was too far and preoccupied with a conversation with another guest, Soraka. They decided to move on to the next painting, hand-in-hand.

“I wonder why there's no price tag on that one,” a young woman with golden hair mused. “All the other ones do.”

“Eh, maybe the artist got lazy and didn't even bother,” another young woman in an apparel jacket muttered. 

“Come on, Jinx, there's no way the artist got  _ that _ lazy. I mean, look at all these artworks! How could he miss a price tag if he painted these with such careful detail?”

The other listlessly shrugged with a crooked, lazy smile. “I dunno. Art’s not really my thing, Lux. I'd rather go play with some fireworks.”

Lux rolled her eyes with a sigh. “Alright, my little pyromaniac. Let's keep going.” She pulled Jinx to another painting, Jinx protesting but compliantly following along. 

Sona raised a brow at their conversation and turned to Jhin.  _ “You're not selling “Butterflies”?” _

“I wanted to keep it. It holds a special meaning to me, after all.” He brought Sona’s hand up to kiss the tips of her fingers. “How could I sell a piece that depicts the feelings and memories I've had with someone I love?” He and Sona softly laughed to themselves as they pressed foreheads. The beeping of his watch caught his attention. “It's time for the speech. Wish me luck.”

Sona signed to do his best and gave his hand another squeeze afterwards as they made their way to his “Butterflies” piece, where most of the guests now gathered to hear the speech. 

Oh, this was more people than he thought there would be. He gripped Sona’s hand tighter before letting go and walked to the front. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Khada Jhin, the artist of this gallery. I thank you for attending the grand opening, and I was very pleased to hear that everyone enjoys what I've painted.”

“And he says he has stage fright,” Lestara joked under her breath to Sona. 

A giggle shook Sona’s shoulders. After he finished his speech, she joined the crowd to applause Jhin for his hard work and effort. 

“I am open to questions, if anyone has any. Otherwise, please feel free to look around more.”

A smaller crowd drew closer to Jhin as the rest dispersed to the rest of the gallery or to find the exit. Sona stepped closer to Jhin, now half an arm’s length away, to remind him of her support.

“Is Khada Jhin your real name, sir?”

“No, it is just an alias. But it's a name I've come to think of as a second name, so I don't mind being called that.”

“What inspired you to start your flower series? They're all so gorgeous!” Lux asked excitedly.

Jhin glanced at Sona, whose eyes smiled at his gaze. “It's more of a case of ‘who’. A longtime friend of mine gave me the inspiration I needed to try something new. A different vision. It's thanks to her that I was able to become this successful.”

“Is she the lady that's on your big painting right here?” Jinx asked.

Straightforward, that girl was. Jhin cleared his throat. “Yes, she is. She has become a special person in my life, and that is why I dedicated my final masterpiece to her.”

“Is that piece available for purchase, by any chance?” someone asked.

“No. This is a piece that holds a special place in my heart. I have no plans on selling this one.” A few murmurs of disappointment sounded from potential buyers, but he didn't care. This one stayed. “Please feel free to look at my other works, however. I assure you they are just as good, and they will be available for delivery starting the week after next.”

“So where’s the lucky girl in that painting?” Sona turned to see the barista across the street with the two bakers behind him. Oh gods. They were doing this on purpose. Her ears turned red when she turned back to Jhin, who gazed at her lovingly and reached out to hold her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers.

“She’s right here… my friend who has become much more to me, now my significant other.” 

Gasps and sounds of endearment sounded from the crowd. 

“That is what the ambrosia means.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the wait! My laptop got busted, and I had to spend the past few days on my phone writing this. :/


	4. After the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> College AU - Sona wakes up in Jhin's apartment after Draven's party the night before.

A ringing urged Sona to wake up as she opened her eyes to the blinding sunlight flooding in from the closed blinds. Ow, her head. Her hand found her throbbing temples as she blinked the blurriness away. Her fingers brushed against the cool, grey blanket wrapped around her body. She froze.

This wasn’t her room.

Sona quickly sat up, much to her dizzying regret, only to grab the covers that slipped off her bare chest and hold it over her body. A whistling sound sounded from her throat as her face turned red at the realization that she was naked—except for her underwear—under the blanket. Her eyes moved to the foot of the bed, where her clothes laid folded in a neat pile while her bra sat next to her head.

Her eyes quickly darted around the room, Sona dashing out of the bed with her clothes and heading into the bathroom. She dropped her clothes by her feet and inspected her body in the mirror. There were no bruises, cuts, or any sign indicating she might have been violated. There was no pain or blood from her privates either.

She leaned against the door to let out a breath of relief and changed into her clothes with a lighter weight on her shoulders. She poked her head out from the door to find any of her other belongings. Her phone was plugged into a charger on the dresser next to the bed with a cup of water next to it. 

No one was in the bedroom at least. Tucking her phone into her pocket, she left the glass untouched and cautiously opened the bedroom door.

Outside was a living room separated by a counter that lead to the kitchen behind it. Lines of canvases and papers of fine arts cluttered the walls, boxes of art supplies stacked on top of each other. An arts major student. She spotted a bowl of rice and soup with small plates of side dishes under a white mesh food cover. 

Strange. Was this for her? She opened the cover to see a folded note next to the utensils. She immediately grabbed it and read the neat writing.

_ Please don’t hesitate to make yourself at home. If you need to talk to me about what happened last night, I wrote my number below. I will try to respond when I’m on break from class, _ it read. She covered her face in shame. This person was at the party last night.

Sona had gone to a party Draven was hosting to celebrate the end of midterms, and she had a little too many drinks to remember anything before she passed out. Something must have happened since she ended up in someone else’s apartment. Her phone must have ran out of battery at the party. Opening her messaging app, she was greeted by several texts asking about her whereabouts. 

Oh no, her housemates must have been worried sick about her after not hearing from her. She’ll text them after she gets everything dealt with.

With a sigh, she dialed the writer’s number and sent them a text.

_ “Care to fill me in on what happened?” _

She waited a minute, hoping for a reply, but sat down by the table when there was no response or a Read receipt. She was so hungry. So ready to eat. But not before dragging her chopsticks through the food for anything suspicious. She picked up the bowl of soup and took a noticeable gulp. The soup was delicious, and her headache was beginning to dull. Her eyes kept glancing at the screen of her phone for the anticipated reply of whoever this apartment belonged to.

Thank goodness she didn’t have classes today. She wouldn’t have gone to the party otherwise.

The clack of chopsticks and the bowl followed the vibrating of her phone as a text finally appeared on her phone. She unlocked the phone to the conversation, hoping that it was the art major.

_ “Sona! Where were you last night? I thought you went back early, but you weren’t home!” _ Ah, it was one of her housemates, Lux.  _ “Are you okay? You’re not hurt? Where are you?” _ Her texts kept flooding in with questions asking about her well-being. Lux was a bright and optimistic sweetheart who looked out for her and her friends. 

Sona smiled and texted her back.  _ “I’m at someone else’s apartment. I must have passed out last night and was brought to their home.” _ She watched the loading bubble pop up as Lux was texting something.

_ “But you’re okay?” _

_ “I’m fine. It doesn’t seem like I was taken advantage of.” _

_ “Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. I was so worried about you all night! You wouldn’t get my calls or my texts!” _

_ “I’m sorry, my phone ran out of battery during the party.” _

_ “Well, I’m more than happy that you’re safe. When will you be back?” _

_ “Probably after I meet this person. They even made me breakfast.” _

_ “Oh shit, no way. Are they a student?” _

Sona picked up her chopsticks and resumed eating again.  _ “They must be. They have artworks and art supplies in the apartment.” _

_ “Hm, an art major, huh? Kinda quirky, those people.” _

She snorted, holding her chopsticks between her teeth as she texted a cheeky response to Lux—until a text from an unknown number caught her attention to the notification. It was the art major. She switched out of the conversation to read the text.

_ “Hey. How are you feeling? I apologize if you woke up in a panic thinking something happened. I want to assure you that I only brought you to my apartment because I found you passed out with your phone out of battery, and I didn’t want anyone to do something inappropriate to you.” _

They sure were eloquent for an arts major. She started typing back.

_ “I believe you. Thank you for taking me to your apartment after the party. And the breakfast. It’s very delicious.” _

_ “I’m happy to hear that. You can leave the dishes where they are. I can wash them when I return home.” _

_ “When will you be coming home? I would like to meet you, if possible.” _

Another loading bubble.  _ “Unfortunately, I won’t be coming home until late tonight. I will be at the studios to finish an assignment, but we can schedule a meeting for another time.” _

Sona paused to think. She checked her location on the maps, seeing that she wasn’t too far from the arts building.  _ “Are you free after your current class?” _

_ “No, I have classes all day.” _

This was a little troubling.  _ “Can you let me know when you’re free? I would like to thank you in person.” _

A pause.  _ “I believe I am free tomorrow afternoon from one to three. Would that work?” _

Damn. She had a composition class that day. She couldn’t skip that class when there was going to be a critique next week. She tapped the chopsticks on her lip.  _ “Would the weekend work for you?” _

_ “Yes, I should be free for most of the weekend.” _

_ “That’s good! Perhaps we can meet over some coffee?” _

_ “That’d be nice. Does Saturday at one sound alright to you?” _

_ “I’m fine with that. I’ll see you then.” _ She was about to put the phone down until a thought bubbled up.  _ “I’m so sorry, I don’t think I introduced myself. My name is Sona Buvelle from the school of music.” _

_ “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sona. My name is Khada Jhin. I usually go by Jhin.” _

_ “It’s nice to meet you too, Jhin. Your break is probably almost over, so I’ll let you get back to class.” _

_ “Oh, it’s been over about five minutes ago, but I wanted to make sure you were feeling better than how you probably were feeling when you woke up.” _

Sona smiled at his message.  _ “Aw, that’s sweet! I am feeling better now that we were able to talk.” _

_ “Fantastic. I’ll be going back to class. Feel free to stay as long as you’d like. The door is set to automatically lock when it closes.” _

_ “Thank you, Jhin. I’ll see you on Saturday.” _ Sona put her phone down and finished the rest of her breakfast. She brought them all to the sink and washed them spotless. After all the trouble Jhin went through for her, she couldn’t just leave without cleaning her mess. She fixed his bed and set the phone charger in a coil on his dresser. After making sure she didn’t leave anything behind, she left a note on the dresser and left.

_ “I’m on my way back, Lux!” _

_ “Okay! See you soon!” _

* * *

 

It was eleven at night. Jhin was walking under the streetlights with a drag in his steps. He was exhausted. He rubbed his eyes as he dug into his bag for his keys and unlocked the door. He entered the hallway to see his dining table clean and the dishes washed and dried on the rack. He trudged to his bedroom and collapsed into his bed to enjoy the cool feel of the blanket on his skin. 

He sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing for a moment. He reopened them and turned to his dresser, where Sona’s note sat on top of it. His brows furrowed as he picked it up.

_ I’m so sorry for the trouble you went through because of me. Thank you so much for your help, _ it read. A little insignia of a treble and bass clef was followed by Sona’s signature. He felt the corners of his lips twitch into a smile. 

The night of the party rushed back to him as he laid his head back against his pillow and closed his eyes again.

Shen and Zed had dragged him to the party to let loose after midterms were finally over, but he wasn’t much of a party person to begin with. He stayed closer to the walls while the other two went to party. Besides, they were probably going to have some fun of their own once they were drunk enough.

He did remember passing Sona a few times throughout the party. She seemed to be having fun with her friends and her cup of alcohol every time he saw her. But towards midnight, he found Sona asleep on Draven’s couch in a farther corner of his house, where there were less people. Her phone was flashing a ‘low battery’ screen in her hands. He nervously looked around, hoping her friends may have been around. He had stayed in her vicinity for the time being to make sure no one tried to do anything inappropriate to her.

But despite the wait, her friends didn’t show up. He tried to wake her up himself, but she was out like a light. He stood by the couch for a few minutes, at a loss at what to do. Jhin decided to take her to his apartment, so she can at least have somewhere proper to sleep. He carried her on his back out of Draven’s house.

When he reached his apartment, he took her to his bed and managed to get her under the covers. He plugged her phone into a spare phone charger and slipped the blanket over her torso. 

He sighed. Was this illegal? Was he being the kind of person they were warned about in the online sexual harassment courses they had to take? Was she going to sue him when she woke up tomorrow morning?

Suddenly, he felt a hand pulling him to his bed. He caught himself by leaning his arm on the mattress over Sona’s body, his face dangerously close to hers. “Uh, hey, are you awake?”

Sona didn’t say anything. Her eyes just barely opened before they closed again while her arms tried to snake around his neck to drag him down again. He mustered as much strength as possible to prevent her from weighing him down. It took a few pulls for her to release him from her grip, which caused him to stumble into the wall. He wanted to wake her up, but he didn’t want to risk the same thing happening again. 

Jhin gave up. He took his nightwear into his bathroom and changed after washing up. What a mess this was. He threw his clothes into the hamper and stepped back into his bedroom. He grabbed a pillow and the fleece throw from the foot of his bed along with an extra change of clothes and his bag. Hearing the rustle of his blanket, he turned. 

Sona’s arms were moving out of the covers and started raising the hem of her shirt up…

Oh no. Oh god. “I’m going to, I’m going to go.” Why was he even talking to her as if she was awake? It didn’t matter. He ran out of his room, his face red. He shut the door behind him and crouched. This wasn’t supposed to happen. “Calm down, Jhin. You have class in the morning.”

For now, he slept on his couch. He wasn’t sure if he could handle any more chaos for the rest of the night. He had to get up early tomorrow. 

The next morning, he woke up earlier than planned and decided to make use of the extra time by fixing up a meal for her to eat once she wakes up. He paused in front of his bedroom door with a glass of water in hand. Taking a deep breath, he covered his eyes so that he only saw the floor and made his way to the dresser. 

Sona’s clothes were scattered beside his bed, and his blanket was pushed down halfway. He almost felt thankful it was nothing more than this. After he set the glass down, he focused on the wall away from his bed to fold her clothes and place them by the foot of his bed and then to the ceiling to grab the corner of the blanket and cover her body with it again. 

God, this was embarrassing. 

He snuck into the bathroom to wash up and dashed out of his bedroom with a red face. At least his art supplies were in the living room. After writing a note and placing it under the food cover, he left his apartment with a hope that the young lady would understand the situation once he explained it.

And here he was now. His eyes snapped open at the sound of his phone vibrating next to his ear. He checked his phone to see an unknown number—ah, wait, it was… Sona Buvelle, was it? He opened the message.

_ “Quick question. Did you… see? Everything?” _

See? See what… oh. A blush colored his cheeks as he nervously typed back,  _ “No, I promise I haven’t seen anything. I looked away the entire time, if that helps any.” _ He felt anxious seeing the loading bubble last for a minute while Sona was typing another message.

_ “I am so sorry,” _ her message read with a crying emoticon at the end.

_ “Don’t be sorry. If anything, I’m the one who’s sorry to have made you feel self-conscious.” _

_ “No, no, you’ve been very respectful and polite about this so far. I can’t imagine how embarrassed you must have been last night.” _ There was a pause before another message popped up.  _ “Just to make this conversation less awkward, how was your day?” _

Jhin huffed in laughter as he replied to her about this work in the smithing studio. He somehow ended up messaging her late into the night getting to know each other better. Oh well. At least he had a gen ed class in the morning. Before heading to sleep, he registered her number in his phone under her name.

* * *

 

Sona looked at her watch. It was a little past three in the afternoon. She sat by the grassy area by the art department after her private piano lesson, a cup of tea in her hands as she waited for anyone who might have looked like a ‘Khada Jhin’. It was a difficult feat to pull off, considering she didn’t even know how he looked like. But damn it all if she didn’t give it a try.

She approached a few students asking if they knew a ‘Khada Jhin’. Most have heard of him and his work, paintings that seemed to portray beauty in the little things around them. But no one seemed to know his schedule. 

This was impossible.

A sigh left her lips as she took another sip of her tea. There were only two days left until Saturday, but she had been wanting to meet him since they began texting each other more often. But it seemed their schedules wouldn’t match up. 

She even rushed out of class once it was over to see if she can catch him. 

If he had class at three, anyways. 

Looking at her watch again, she saw it was fifteen minutes past three. Her lips jutted into a pout in disappointment. At least their meeting on Saturday wasn’t cancelled. She dusted her skirt as she stood up and walked down the stairs to the sidewalk, her fingers typing something on her phone as she returned home.

She went past a young man who looked back with recognition on his face. Jhin watched her walk away and throw her finished cup of tea into the recycling bin. 

“Huh…” he muttered. Did she come to see him? He would have loved to catch up to her to talk, but his smithing assignment needed to be done. He hesitantly turned around and accessed the door to the art building, a small pang of regret in his heart. 

 

_ “I think I saw you walking away from the art building earlier today,” _ he texted her after he got back home.  _ “Were you waiting for me, by any chance?” _

Seeing there was no response yet, he went to the kitchen to make himself dinner. As rice and vegetables sizzled in a pan, his ringtone sounded from his pocket. Oh, it was Shen. He pursed his lips before answering the call. “Hello?”

“Hey Jhin, what happened to that girl you were with the other day? At Draven’s party? Zed told me you were walking out with some girl on your back.”

Great. He suppressed a tired sigh before answering, “Her friends didn’t seem to be around, so I let her sleep at my apartment. I didn’t want anything happening to her while she was passed out.” There was a pause on the other line. “If you’re thinking what I think you’re assuming, nothing happened. I’m meeting with her later on Saturday to talk about what happened.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I know you’re not that kind of guy, but you know. Just wanted to make sure.” At least Shen sounded apologetic. He was certainly more tolerable than Zed, who was wilder and jumped to conclusions all the time. He wondered how they even became friends in the first place.

“Yeah, I know. But really. Nothing happened. I let her take my bed while I slept on the couch.”

“Zed, I can’t believe you made me think something happened,” Shen muttered.

“What? All I said was that I  _ hoped _ she’ll be okay.” Zed’s voice faintly drawled in the background.

“That is not what you said!”

“How do you remember? You were as drunk as I was!”

Jhin shook his head with a smirk on his face. “Bye, Shen.” He hung up before they got into another one of their arguments. He placed his phone on the counter before pouring his food into a bowl and bringing them to the dining table. He scrolled through his phone as he ate, enjoying a few videos here and there.

His phone suddenly dinged with a text message from Sona. He immediately tapped it to take him to his messaging app.

_ “Oh my god. I hope that wasn’t weird. I just got really curious…” _

He chuckled.  _ “Not at all. I wanted to call out to you, but you were too far by the time I wanted to. I had to finish the last of my smithing assignment anyways.” _

_ “Aw, that’s a shame. I would’ve liked to talk to you in person, even if the conversation was short.” _ A pause before another message popped up.  _ “Well, it’d be more you talking and me texting.” _

He tilted in head in curiosity.  _ “Why is that?” _

_ “I’m mute.” _

Oh. He started typing.  _ “Do you sign? Or do you use texts to convey your words?” _

_ “Mostly texting. I only sign when people can sign back.” _

_ “Interesting.” _

_ “I hope that doesn’t deter you from meeting me this Saturday. I promise I’m a fast typer.” _

_ “It’s fine. I would still like to meet you over coffee. I don’t have many assignments over the weekend, so we can take our time.” _

_ “That’s a relief, thank you so much.” _

He wondered what kind of life she had lead, unable to convey her words through voice but signs and texts that most people probably didn’t have time for.  _ “No problem. If there’s anything that will make it easier for you to talk, let me know. I don’t want to inconvenience you.” _

_ “No need! I’m planning on bringing my laptop so I can write down my thoughts for you to see the screen clearly without having to look at my phone.” _

_ “That’ll be perfect.” _ His thumb suddenly stopped over the keyboard. He had an idea, but was it too bold of him? He was in the middle of a mental debate until Sona sent him a text again.

_ “Hey, I was wondering if you’d like to meet over lunch instead?” _ She sent a shy emoticon.  _ “Weird question, I know. But I felt like coffee might be a bit short, you know what I mean?” _

His lips curled into a smile.  _ “Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing.” _

_ “Hahaha! What a coincidence!” _ she ended with a smiley face.  _ “Anywhere you want to eat at?” _

Jhin had to admit. Sona was kind of… cute.  _ “How about sushi? I know an acquaintance who works at a sushi restaurant nearby.” _

_ “Sushi sounds lovely! Just send me the address, and I’ll meet you there at one. Right?” _

_ “Yes. I’ll send it over now.” _ He leaned back in his chair as he continued to text Sona back about his classes and his work. He was looking forward to Saturday. He even hoped it would come by faster.

* * *

 

Sona twisted a lock of hair in her fingers as she nervously checked her phone. She was a little earlier than usual, and she was seated by a window table, which gave her the space to place her laptop to the side. Her toes were tapping against the tiled floors as she waited for Jhin.

A hand gingerly tapped her shoulder, making her turn her head to see a young man in a fuschia collared-shirt with a beige sweater over it. Oh. She  _ had _ seen him before when she went to visit the art department. It was only a glance, but she had spotted him in her peripheral vision when she passed by him. 

“I’m not late, am I?” he asked with a nervous smile.

She shook her head with kind eyes and gestured to the seat across her. 

“Actually, mind if I sit next to you? It might be easier for you to talk to me that way.”

That was true. She moved her bag to the bottom of the table and opened the seat for him. He was such a sweetheart, how could she say no? After ordering their food, Sona started typing on a document in front of him.  _ “So, what happened that night at the party?” _

Jhin rubbed the back of his neck. “Truthfully, I was looking for my friends when I happened to spot you sleeping on Draven’s couch. I waited near you first to see if your friends were around to pick you up, but no one had come for you.” He folded a small chopsticks holder and placed his wooden chopsticks on top of it. “Your phone was out of battery, so I couldn’t reach anyone else either. I didn’t want to see you left alone, so I took you to my apartment. Which I will apologize for doing so without your consent.”

Sona shook her head again.  _ “It’s okay. I would’ve preferred that over being alone and blacked out at a party.” _ Her shoulders shook with a silent giggle. Her smile then flattened into a straight line as she typed in the next line.  _ “Can you tell me what happened when I got to your house? I woke up… you know…” _

“Ah. Yes.” He covered his face to hide a blush. “How do I explain this? I believe your body temperature was rising, and you started taking your… shirt… off…” He didn’t dare meet Sona’s eyes. “I swear I didn’t see anything. I ran out of my room with all my necessary belongings. The same applies to the morning, too—when I had to wash up. I covered my eyes so that I can only see the floor.”

Her jaw hung open. Her cheeks flushed red all the way to her ears in shame and embarrassment. She cupped her face and lowered her head onto the table. How could she do that? God, she wanted to cry so badly.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to make you—”

She furiously shook her head to indicate that she was fine. Just morbidly embarrassed. It probably didn’t come across to him, but she’d explain later. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Sona drank some water to cool her head and went back to typing. 

_ “I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am for making you go through that. You know what? This lunch will be my treat. Please take it as my apology and thanks for helping me that night.” _

“Oh no, you don’t have to.”

_ “Please?” _ She sent him a pleading look, her ears still red. 

How could he say no? He gave in. “If you insist then.” After their orders arrived, they continued to talk about any subject that came up throughout their conversation. It felt easier and easier to fall into a smoother conversation as they got to more debatable topics. 

_ “Speaking of which, I tried to find you at the art department yesterday since I had free time, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.” _

Yesterday? He gasped in realization. “I didn’t tell you, did I?” He sighed when Sona gave him a questioning look. “I’m actually a theater major minoring in art. Painting, specifically. I am taking a smithing class as an elective this semester.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at Sona’s look that asked him if he was insane. 

_ “How are you not dead?” _

He broke into laughter. “I ask myself that every day.”

After lunch, they stepped outside to talk a little longer before parting ways. Sona had to attend a music concert as part of her World of Music class in a few hours. She texted something before handing him her phone. 

_ “Do you think we can still meet after this? I’d hate to stop talking now that we finally met face-to-face.” _ She shrugged with a shy smile. She wouldn’t type it out, but she would’ve loved to get to know him a lot more.

Wow. Sona was really cute. Jhin chuckled as he handed her phone back. “Of course! I can’t guarantee if I will answer your texts right away, but I will be more than happy to text back.” He paused. “Maybe we can meet up again, when we both have time.” Sona’s eyes smiled with a joy that he found endearing as she gave him two thumbs-up. 

That would be lovely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd just like to say that I love messing with Jhin and Sona :P


	5. The Beauty Within (Part 1/2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beauty and the Beast AU - A king is cursed by an enchantress to remain a demon until he learns to love the beauty within, given a single enchanted rose to count his days before the curse turns him into a demon for all eternity. Unless he learns to love another and gain their affection back, he will remain a demon forever. But how could anyone come to love a demon like him?

Once upon a time, there lived a king in a grand castle surrounded by lush, green forests. He was given everything and anything he ever wanted, but he became obsessed with beautiful things. He would call the most beautiful people from all over the country to work in his castle and make it as beautiful as he envisioned it, even holding lavish dances to flaunt the elegance of his castle.

One night, he was called to the front door to see a shivering woman in a black cloak. Her skin was colored purple with lighter markings, her clothes worn out. She pleaded for shelter from the cold rain in exchange for a single rose, a flower the king adored the most.

But repulsed by her inhuman appearance, he rejected the woman’s offer, claiming that he could pick out a more beautiful rose than the barely blooming one she held. The woman warned him that he shouldn’t judge things based on appearance, for true beauty lies within.

The king scorned the woman’s warning and turned her away once more, going so far as to calling her a demon.

At his final refusal, the woman shed her cloak in a burst of glistening light, her skin now like a human’s without a horn, dressed in golden clothing—revealing an enchantress of stars. The king’s apologies fell on deaf ears, for the enchantress found no beauty underneath. Only a selfish and unkind king.

As punishment, she cast a spell to turn him into what he had called her. In addition, she spread the spell to the rest of the castle and its residents, her powerful magic hiding the castle in a mist and from the memories of others.

In the king’s claws was an enchanted mirror and the rose, which will bloom for ten years until he can learn to find love in the beauty within. If he could find love and earn their love back by the time the last petal fell, the spell would be broken. Otherwise, he would remain a demon forever.

Years passed, and the king slowly fell into despair at his wicked appearance. He could only wait for the last rose petal to fall. After all, how could someone ever come to love a demon?

* * *

 

What a small village this was. There must have been something beyond the forests and mountains surrounding this crowded place. And yet, only the hunters or merchants were allowed to traverse through the dirt trails into the forests. “To keep this village safe,” they say. Sea green eyes rolled at the notion as they gazed out into the horizon, the sun’s rays spilling out of the mountain peaks.

Sona sat by the window of her cottage while strumming her harp to the sounds of the birds chirping in the tree by the windowsill. She took a deep breath to take in the aroma of the autumn morning breeze and exhaled.

The view from her room sometimes made this small corner of the world feel a little bigger.

Her eyes glanced at an elderly woman spreading grains for the chickens in the coop. Her hands winced away from the strings as she slowly backed away from her window. Attracting attention so early in the morning wasn’t ideal. Especially for her.

Giving up on playing her harp any longer, she stepped out of her room with her parchment and charcoal to start making breakfast. However, her mother, Lestara, was already awake, stirring rice porridge in a pot and cooked eggs on a plate by the table. She knocked on the doorway four times in a rhythm to gain her mother’s attention. “Oh! Sona, good timing. Sit down, dear, breakfast is almost done.”

She took a seat and watched her mother pour the porridge into bowls and bring them over. She scribbled something onto the parchment and flipped it around. _“Do you have everything you need for today?”_ she wrote.

“Of course, dear. I double checked everything and made sure I didn’t miss a thing.” Lestara poured soy sauce into her bowl and tested the taste. “I’ll be visiting the market after the hunt, but I’ll be sure to come back as soon as I can.”

Sona started writing onto the parchment again. _“Will you be warm enough? It’s getting closer to winter, after all.”_

“With the fur coat you and I made, I’m sure I’ll be just fine.” She hummed in satisfaction when the porridge turned out to be better this time. “Is there anything you would like from the market?”

_“Perhaps more parchment? I’m starting to run out.”_

“Other than parchment and charcoal, dear. You don’t have anything you would like me to get you?”

_“I’m fine with whatever you give me, mother. You usually get me something I like anyways.”_

Lestara chuckled. “I know, but I felt like you might want something specific. You know I’ll ask before every hunt, Sona.”

Sona giggled as she took a bite from her porridge. But she shook her head to indicate that she didn’t want anything specific. Everything her mother gave her was precious, but she always cherished the books her mother could chance to get her with the extra money left over from the profits. _“Anything is fine, I promise.”_

“If you insist, my dear daughter. How’s the porridge? I think I did a superb job this time.”

 _“A little thick, but it’s better than a soupy porridge.”_ Sona smiled and finished the rest of her breakfast with her mother to see her off after.

 

 _“Are you sure this is warm enough? You don’t need anything more?”_ she wrote, pointing to the fur coat around her mother’s shoulders.

“I’ve packed extra clothing aside from what I need, so don’t you worry.” Lestara ran her hand through Sona’s hair and smiled. “I’ll be back soon, Sona. You take care of the house for me, okay?”

Sona nodded and watched her mother take their horse and cart past the village gates, waiting until her mother disappeared into the woods. She sighed. Her mother was skilled in hunting, but Sona couldn’t help but worry whenever she went alone.

“You know, there are demons out there beyond these forests. Or, at least where your mother always goes,” a voice drawled from behind. She turned to see Yasuo standing behind her with his hand lazily placed on the hilt of his sword. “Your mother mostly goes alone, and that can be a great risk to her.” Sona was about to scribble something onto the parchment until Yasuo grunted and contorted his scarred face in distaste. “Don’t even bother. I’m not a man of reading words.”

She glanced at her writing on her paper, the Ionian characters rather blocky and stiff compared to their original, fluid form. Being adopted and taken to Demacia at a young age limited her study of her native tongue and writing, something that distanced her from the rest of the Ionians in this village. Despite being Ionian herself.

His eyes glanced at Sona and her writing on the paper before he turned around to leave. “For someone of our descent, you’re not really like us. You’d be better off doing work instead of reading or writing all day, don’t you think?” He wandered off with a listless drag in his step.

“Hmph,” Sona huffed out loud, her face hot in embarrassment. She watched Yasuo disappear into the sea of people walking or running about to get their tasks done.

Yasuo was known as the village’s protector and slayer of demons, according to the tales of the villagers who have gone hunting—demons or animals—with him in the forests. They said that he was the reason they could hunt and travel again. Before, demons had taken over the forests, perhaps spiriting away the trespassers who dared to step in their territory.

She never liked his crude and arrogant personality, Yasuo usually bragging about his kills and how he got certain scars.

Not to mention, he sometimes picked on her when she was without her mother, taunting her for her inability to speak. The worst of the worst in this village, she considered him to be.

With a sigh, Sona locked the door of the cottage and headed to a small, lonely building nearby, vines of ivy crawling on the walls. She pushed the door open, greeted by the smell of books and scrolls waiting to be studied. A slightly older woman with forest green hair poked her head out from the back.

“Oh! Sona, I was wondering when you’d be coming in. Here to borrow another book?”

She nodded as she scribbled something and showed it to the librarian. _“Do you have something I can use to practice writing Ionian characters?”_

Not many people knew how to read or write here. The librarian was one of the few people who knew how to read, but she was the only one who offered Sona the welcoming kindness the village lacked. But it was a place Sona frequented to escape from this small village into bigger worlds. Books were the one thing she could turn to for communication. Even if knowing how to read was frowned upon here, words made up so much of her world.

“Did Yasuo say something to you again?” Seeing Sona hesitate, the librarian shook her head as she scanned one of the shelves for an appropriate book. “That man is never up to anything good. Just keep ignoring him, dearie, he’ll leave you alone eventually.” Her face lit up as she grabbed a book and looked through the contents. “Aha! How about this one?”

Sona approached the librarian to see a book of illustrations and writing with it. She tilted her head to see an illustration depicting two children climbing a rope to the sky.

“This is a handwritten storybook of Ionian folktales. The writing in here is big enough to see each stroke properly to practice with.” She patted the back of Sona’s hand as she placed the book in her hands. “Your Ionian is proficient enough, but if you want to practice writing, I would highly suggest starting with that.”

Nodding thankfully, Sona sat down by a table and chose the story of a daughter of a poor farmer marrying a dragon prince. She copied a few words and repeated them as she read through the folktale. Time seemed to pass faster in the library, but it wasn’t like she had much to do in the first place in this small village.

* * *

 

Lestara was lost. Perhaps she took the wrong turn from the last fork in the road. But there was no reason why it mattered, since the two roads eventually merged again anyways. So why was there another fork in the road, when there wasn’t one there before?

She looked at the map she had bought from her previous visit to the market, her brows furrowed in confusion at the unmarked fork on the map. “That can’t be right…” She held her lantern up at both roads, each seeming to lead into the same direction anyways. “Let’s try this way, Hec.” She guided her horse down one of the roads, hoping that this would lead to the right way eventually.

The night was eerily silent. Almost too silent. Her breath turned into white in the winter breeze as the first flakes of snow began to fall from the sky.

The pattering of paws against the snow.

A howl.

Two howls.

Now primal growls sounding from behind Lestara’s cart.

Lestara turned to see a pack of wolves slowly approaching the cart. They were not interested in the excavated objects packed in the cart. No, they wanted meat. They wanted blood. Three behind the cart. Two on her right. One on her left. Without another moment to spare, she unlatched the cart from her horse’s saddle.

“Hyah!” Her horse speeded through the road with the wolves making chase after them.

They weren’t going to make it.

The wolves were growing closer with every second.

She looked back to see the alpha of the pack only a foot away. All it needed was to extend its neck to bite a chunk of flesh off her horse to send her flying into the snow as their next course. But when she turned back around, her horse collided into a wall of branches. She collapsed from the saddle, her horse running in another direction and abandoning her.

Looking back, she saw the wolves trying to get through the branches and used the opportunity to escape. Her eyes settled on the open, vast land before her.

And a castle.

There was no time to think. Lestara immediately ran through the snow to the castle as she pulled her fur coat closer to her body. She felt a sudden pull and fell onto her knees, turning to see one of the wolves with her fur coat in its jaws. Panic coursed through her body as she kicked it in the throat and kept running. But there was no way she could outrun the pack of wolves that were now free from the branches and heading straight for her.

She cried out in relief when a gate came into view as she pulled it open as much as she can. But another yank at the sleeve of her coat sent her face first into the snow. She immediately got up and swung her arm to pull her sleeve free from the wolf’s jaws, but it wouldn’t let go.

“Ugh, keep it!” She ripped her coat open to run through the gate and pulled the gate closed. She shivered in her now-soaked turtleneck as she hurried through the spacious garden and up the stairs to the door. She held her hand up to knock, but suddenly, the door clicked and swung itself open—much to Lestara’s bewilderment.

“H-hello?” she managed to stutter out. She stepped inside with caution, seeing the ornate palace to be empty. “Is anyone here?” Lestara spotted the orange color of fire flickering from further back of the castle and paced across the hall to, hopefully, greet the owner.

But there was no owner. Only a table of food by a lit fireplace. “I apologize if I’m intruding, but I have lost my horse and my belongings to go home. I would at least like some shelter from the snowfall before I go back.” Seeing there was no one to greet her, she approached the fireplace to warm herself up. She crouched in front of the fire with a sigh and dug her head into her knees.

How could this happen? Not only did she abandon the cart that contained her weapons, her horse was nowhere to be found. How was she going to return to Sona? Another sigh escaped her as she looked up at the table of food behind her. If no one was coming out after her few attempts to get their attention, she could eat too, right?

Hesitant but hungry, Lestara approached the table and sat down. She grabbed a small loaf of bread and spread some butter and cheese before taking a bite. The loaf tasted like it was freshly baked, making her wonder if someone had just made this meal. But there was no one in sight.

“Psst.”

Her eyes widened as she jerked her head around to find the source of the voice.

“Over here.”

She looked at the candelabra at the right of her plate. It, it couldn’t have been the candle talking, right? The design of the candelabra suddenly moved like a face.

“Hey, you might want to get out of here before the master finds out. He’s not very welcoming to outsiders.”

It was the candelabra.

Lestara’s breath caught in her throat as she stopped chewing. “You, you can talk?”

“Zed, how many times do I have to tell you you can’t just start talking out of nowhere like that?” another voice came from a small clock on the opposite side of her. “I apologize. Zed tends to do things without thinking,” the clock sneered the last part at the candle.

“What else do you expect me to do, Shen? Dance in front of her and sing? That’s one way of easing her into it.” The table clattered from Lestara getting up without a word and running away from the talking furniture. “And there she goes.”

The candle talked. The clock talked. This was not a normal castle. If they were magical creatures, then surely the owner of this castle was of inhuman origins. She flew towards the door to make her escape, but she stopped dead in her tracks when a dark figure closed the entrance shut.

“Who are you?” a low and unworldly voice growled. “A thief?”

“N-no, I was just passing by… I was… chased by wolves,” Lestara stammered as she stepped back when the figure approached her. Horns. This man was no human. “Please, sir, I didn’t mean any trouble. I lost my horse and all my belongings!”

Glowing blue eyes glanced at the talking candle and clock, who tensed up at the figure’s stare. “Yet you enter this castle and help yourself like you live here?” He cornered her by a pillar, a growl rumbling from his throat as he spoke, “I think not.”

He was a demon.

* * *

 

Sona awakened from the sound of panicked hooves clopping to the gate of the cottage, a frightened whinny begging her to let it in. She burst out of the door and saw their horse looking around and fidgeting restlessly.

Why was Hec alone?

Where was the cart?

Where was her mother?

Her eyes widened as she checked behind the horse for a sign of her mother walking back from the forest, but no one was there. Her breath quickened once she realized their horse had come here alone.

What happened in the forest?

She pulled the horse in and ran back into the house for her shawl, packing her charcoal and parchment in a sack and tying it around her neck. She then hopped onto their horse and slapped the reins to jump over the village gates into the forest. They brushed through the snow until Hec skidded to a stop by the cart in the dirt.

The sheet covering the goods Lestara was planning to sell at the market was blown away by the wind, and some items were cluttered on the ground… with bite marks and shredded scraps.

Sona’s eyes darted around the area. If the wolves were still around, they had to leave. Now. She urged Hec to keep going until they walked through the opening of the branches Hec made. In the distance was Lestara’s fur coat, now torn into pieces. She looked up at the castle and gulped. Her mother must have taken shelter in there. She leapt off Hec and quickly opened the gates to let herself and Hec in, making sure to shut the gates tightly to prevent the wolves from entering.

Once she arrived to the base of the stairs, she took a deep breath to quell her shaking hands. The castle was large, but it looked so unsettling. She hopped off the saddle and walked up the stairs until she reached the door. Before she even raised her hand to knock, the door opened on its own, startling her. She pushed the door open more, poking her head through.

No one was in the castle except for the lit fireplace in the opposite hallway. She stepped inside with caution and closed the door quietly. Could her mother have gotten lost here? She hoped for the best.

“Isn’t that…?”

“Another person wandered in here?”

“As if the other one wasn’t enough.”

“But she looks like a younger woman. Do you think…?”

“You honestly think she could be the one?”

Her head jerked to the right, where she thought she heard voices. She approached the direction, seeing no one but a lit candelabra and a beautifully-designed clock. She took the candelabra to light her way through the dark halls of the palace, her nervous breaths making the flames flicker. Sona ascended the main stairs, but she felt the atmosphere growing colder and colder with each step.

She swallowed a lump in her throat and knocked on the handrail four times in a rhythm. She continued to wander around, repeating the knocking to see if her mother could recognize her and call for her. But the palace was too big. There was no way she could find her in such a huge place. She placed the candelabra down to sit down and press the hem of her dress to her cold, aching feet.

Suddenly, she heard a faint cry for help. It sounded like her mother. Her head perked up immediately and grabbed the candelabra again. She continued to follow the cries until she reached a stone staircase in a tower. Was this where her mother was? She quietly walked up the stairs, knocking again.

“Sona?!”

Without another thought, Sona ran up the spiraling staircase to see her mother behind bars. She gripped onto the cold metal, trying to shake them apart out of desperation. How did her mother get here?! Why was she imprisoned?!

“Sona, what are you doing here? You shouldn’t have come here!” Lestara pried Sona’s hands off the bars to send her away. “You need to escape. Before he comes!”

“Who?” Sona breathed out.

“Another one?” a voice echoed in the tower.

“No! Not her! She has done nothing wrong!” Lestara cried out. “Anyone but my daughter, please!”

Sona whipped her head to the source of the voice, seeing a horned figure sitting on the windowsill of the tower, covered by shadows. She heard her heart pounding in her ears as the figure hopped down to the stairs, merely feet away from her. Looking closer under the torch’s light, she spotted claws and spikes covering the arms.

“If you’ve come here to free your mother, your journey has been useless. She is being punished for trespassing my castle and thievery, and I intend to keep her here until she perishes.”

Her heart suddenly sank into her stomach. No. He couldn’t do that. Not to her mother. She desperately shook her head, grasping her hands together to plead to him to release her. But seeing that the demon wouldn’t budge, she took out the parchment and charcoal from her sack.

“Sona, no, please! Don’t do it!”

She bravely stepped into the light of the torch by Lestara’s prison with her parchment held out in front of her. The demon took a step forward, still in the shadows, reading her blocky writing.

_“I will take her place. If you let me, please let my mother go.”_

The demon paused, his eyes glancing up at her. “You’d take your mother’s place?”

“Please, sir! She can’t speak! She can’t live in a prison like this!” Lestara pleaded.

_“Only if you promise me my mother will be set free and let her go back home.”_

There was another pause, as if the demon was considering his options. “You shall have my word. But you are to remain in this castle forever. Will you go so far as to do that?”

Without hesitation, Sona grabbed the torch and held it to the demon. White, skull-like head with horns growing out and glowing blue orbs in the eye sockets. Fangs as sharp as mirror shards jutting out. Arms with spikes that turned from dark violet shoulders to crimson claws. Legs that bent like a beast’s. She gasped in horror at his inhuman appearance, nearly dropping the torch.

A demon. A monster.

But she had to promise him. And a promise he was going to get. She nodded firmly with determination flaring in her eyes.

“Fine.” He swept past her to unlock Lestara’s prison.

Sona rushed to the bars to give her mother one last hug before the demon hauled her away for all eternity. “I’m sorry,” she breathed, squeezing her mother tightly in her arms. Sona then locked herself behind the bars, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Lestara was then yanked away from her embrace by the demon, who carried her down the stairs to send her away.

The candelabra and the clock peered over from the side of the prison, seeing her silently weep into her hands while sitting in the corner. They exchanged worried glances. The candle then hopped onto the clock’s head to pull the lever to unlock the prison.

She flinched at the sound of the metal gate screeching. Strange. Was the demon letting her free? It couldn’t have been. A sharp gasp escaped her when the candelabra and the clock walked into her prison.

“Come with us, young lady. We can show you to, uh, your room?” the clock said. “Uh-oh.” He ducked when a wooden stick flew at him from inside, hitting the candelabra instead and sending him tumbling down the stairs. “Wait! We’re harmless, I swear!” he attempted to calm her down. “We promise we won’t hurt you.”

Sona had held up a wooden stool in her hands to throw the clock down the stairs with the candelabra too, but she set it down once her shock had finally settled in. A talking candle… and a clock…? How was this possible?

“You bitch! I’m going to light you on fire!” the candle threatened as it hopped back up the stairs, getting stopped by the clock.

“Zed! Calm down! She’s never seen talking furniture before. What do you expect?” The clock smiled nervously at her. “Sorry about him. He’s a little hot-headed, no pun intended. His name is Zed. My name is Shen. We, uh, we will be showing you to your new room in the palace, so please follow us.”

“No need.” The demon’s voice sounded from the stairway. “I will show you to your room. Unless you prefer staying in this tower forever.”

She shook her head.

“Then hurry up. I would rather we not dawdle.” He grabbed Zed to light the way through the castle. His eyes watched Sona hesitantly chase after him and follow from a few feet away. The atmosphere was heavy. But considering he had exchanged her mother with her as a prisoner, it was a given. He looked away when she sniffed and wiped a tear away from her cheeks.

There was no escape, was there? Looking around, it seemed as if the entire castle was alive. Sona glanced at the demon, who seemed to be having a conversation with the candle. Who was he? What was he? She winced when the demon looked back at her.

“You’re allowed to go anywhere you wish in the castle. However, you are forbidden from entering the highest floor. Do not let me catch you wandering up there, or else.” The threat in his voice was quiet but clear enough. They continued to walk through the halls until they reached a door at the end of a hallway on the second floor. “This will be your room. I will reiterate that you are free to wander around the castle of your own accord. My servants will attend to your needs, should you have anything to request.” He paused as he glanced at the insisting candle. “However, I expect you to be down for meals when you are called. That is an _order._ ”

Sona flinched when the demon slammed the door behind her with a growl. She leaned against the door and slid down, hopelessness settling into her heart that she would never see her mother or the village again.

Yet she had no more tears to shed.

* * *

 

Yasuo sat by the counter of the bar, downing a cup of sake and pouring himself another. What a boring day it was today. There was nothing to do in this village anymore other than drinking or taking naps. Nothing interesting to travel for. Nothing to hunt. Nothing to slay. He was sure his sword was lusting for a demon’s blood.

But how could he find a demon when he’d already slain all the demons infesting the woods near their village?

As he was about to take another sip, the doors of the bar burst open, revealing Lestara looking desperate and helpless. “Somebody! Anyone! You must help my daughter. The demon took her prisoner in his castle!”

All eyes focused on her as she approached the nearest patron to ask for help. “There’s a demon living in a castle in the forest, and he took my daughter!”

Yasuo’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. A demon? In these forests? Impossible. “A demon, you say?” he drawled. “Are you sure it wasn’t just the winter snow playing tricks on your eyes?” That earned him a snicker from one of the patrons sitting at the end of the bar.

“No, you don’t understand. His castle is hidden by the trees, and, and it’s alive! There are talking furniture in there that move like people!”

The bar fell silent and then burst into laughter at such unimaginable claims. Furniture that talk? Moving like people? She must have been joking. Even Yasuo couldn’t comprehend what kind of demon would have furniture as pawns.

“Yasuo, please. I am telling you the truth. The demon took me prisoner and exchanged me with Sona!”

For a moment, and only a moment, he had believed her. No sane person of admirable hunting skills like Lestara would lie about a demon in the woods. Perhaps he _could_ check. It would provide him something to kill time with. “Then lead the way, Lestara. I can go with you to slay the demon.”

“Oh, thank you. Thank you! Follow me, I will lead you there immediately.” Lestara and Yasuo rode horses past the librarian, whose eyes followed them out the village gates into the woods.

How curious. Where were they going at this time of night? But there was no time to answer that, for she had some scribing to finish.

However, the journey to find the castle was fruitless, for the fork in the road that lead to the castle had suddenly disappeared. Lestara desperately cleared bushes to try to find the other road. But there was no use. “That, that’s impossible! I know it was here! I had to leave my cart on the path to escape the wolves!”

“Wolves?” Yasuo repeated. “You mean you dragged me out all the way here to tell me that you were chased by wolves? Is that the “demon” you’re talking about?”

“No! No. They weren’t the demon. If they were, I would have said they were wolves, _not a demon_.” She clenched her hand into a fist out of frustration when she couldn’t find the road anywhere. “I don’t understand. It was here. I am not lying to you, Yasuo, I swear.”

Yasuo clicked his tongue. “Forget it. This was a waste of my time. As if there is a demon in these damn woods.”

“But…!”

“You are on your own!” he snarled. “Don’t even bother asking for help the next time you hallucinate something as ridiculous as a demon and talking furniture.” He turned his horse around to return to the village, leaving Lestara alone in the cold.

* * *

 

Sona couldn’t get a wink of sleep that night. She kept tossing and turning under her covers, thinking about how desperate Lestara was to remain in the prison instead. But how could she endure knowing her mother was out here in this castle, trapped forever? The thought of her mother’s freedom was her only solace.

Thankfully, she kept herself preoccupied with the talking wardrobe, Ahri, in her room. Ahri was certainly a talker, having engaged her in a conversation for most of the night. Since Sona was mute, Ahri resorted to yes or no questions and talking from there.

She sat up from the plush bed, combing her fingers through her hair. It was dawn already. The sky was still grey, still snowing. With a sigh, Sona hopped off the bed to change out of her nightgown. Once dressed, she poked her head out of her room to see if the demon was coming by.

Seeing as no one was coming, she decided to take the opportunity to wander around the castle. If she was allowed to go anywhere she wished, then she was going to take that chance. Especially if she can find escape routes.

She wandered from hall to hall, from floor to floor, taking note of every window she could use to escape safely.

Her feet took her to a large door at the end of a hallway that loomed over even the tallest statue in the hall. Her jaw dropped at the ornate design of gold and wood on such a huge door. She had considered this to be the demon’s lair, but it stood out too much to be so.

She pushed it open to see a ballroom behind the door, the gold floors matte from the dust that piled up from years of unuse. On a raised platform sat a piano and a harp as tall as her. Her eyes glittered brighter than golden doors as she approached the harp to pluck the string.

Her face contorted at the cacophony. It was so out-of-tune… She’d have to fix that.

But the sound of the door creaking open again stopped her. She turned to see a feather duster entering the ballroom. “Oh, it’s just you. What are you doing here? We’ve been looking all over for you!” When Sona opened her mouth to attempt to say something, the feather duster hurried over and shooed her away from the harp. “There’s no time for chatting. You’re being called for breakfast.”

Breakfast with the demon. What an unpleasant thought. Sona’s brows furrowed as she exited the ballroom and walked back to her bedroom instead. There was no way she was going to have breakfast with someone like _him_.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” the feather duster called out as it chased after her. “You can’t defy the master’s orders, you know!”

Sona answered the feather duster by slamming her bedroom door, but not without the duster slipping inside. She firmly shook her head to insist her refusal on joining the demon for breakfast.

“Ugh. Ahri, I’d expect you of all people to convince her first.”

“Hey, I tried, Syndra. But I can’t persuade someone who was practically taken prisoner in a castle. That’s unfair to her.”

Their conversation was cut short when four loud thumps sounded from the door. Sona flew to the door to lock it immediately. It was the demon. “I thought I told you to come down for meals when called,” he growled. “Care to give me an explanation?”

Sona shushed the feather duster that was about to speak and angrily started writing something onto her parchment, slipping it under the door.

“You can’t stay in there forever,” he growled louder.

 _“Yes. I. Can,”_ she wrote.

There was a bang of frustration against her door and a low snarl. “Fine. Then _starve._ ” He stomped away from her bedroom, slamming the hall door with great force.

Syndra sighed. “Fantastic. Look what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

Sona couldn’t help but send a glare at the door and shake her head as she rolled her eyes. As if she would ever let him have his way. Not when he was going to treat her like this.

* * *

 

The demon entered his lair, where pieces of wooden frames and canvas lay cluttered on the floor. Zed and Shen followed closely behind. He approached a table holding the enchanted mirror and a glass container holding the rose. His hand hovered over the back of the mirror as if to grab it but hesitated.

“Your Majesty, you mustn’t keep losing your temper like that,” Shen warned.

“It’ll only make it worse with that girl,” Zed muttered, earning a hard nudge from Shen.

He sighed as he picked up the mirror. “Show me the young lady.” His reflection changed, the mirrow now showing Ahri and Syndra trying to convince Sona to give him a chance. But Sona could only shake her head angrily, refusing to show acknowledgement of him. “Why does it matter?” He set the mirror back down on its reflective surface, walking out to the balcony to cool his head. “It’s hopeless.”

Shen and Zed exchanged worried glances and left the room to leave him to his thoughts.

* * *

 

After an hour, Sona snuck out of her room with Syndra tailing behind. “Oh, so _now_ you’re hungry, huh?” Syndra shook her head as she guided Sona to the kitchen. “Well, we can’t have you starve, no matter what the master says.” Once they entered the kitchen, they were greeted by clusters of moving plates, utensils, and teacups. Shen and Zed were on a table talking to a teapot.

“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to join us,” one teacup said as he jumped down open drawers. “Care for some breakfast you missed out on? Or,” he paused to look out the window, “oh, sorry, it seems to be close to lunch now.”

“Kayn, leave her alone,” another teacup called from a table. “You can’t blame her for not wanting to join the master for breakfast.”

“Guess what, Akali? I’m going to. We went through so much trouble making all this food, only to have it go to waste because both parties decided not to eat.”

Sona bowed apologetically at the teacup’s piercing remark.

“Kayn, behave. We must be respectful to the guest,” Shen said.

“Guest, my ass,” Kayn muttered.

“Don’t give your uncle sass, Kayn.” Zed looked at Sona, who stared back with a questioning look. “Besides, at this point, we need to treat her like a guest.”

“Fine, dad,” he drawled.

“Yeah, Kayn. Listen to Uncle Shen for once.”

“Shut it, Akali.”

“Now, now. The young lady must be feeling hungry. We can still give her what we made,” the teapot hopped in between the two teacups glaring at each other. “Welcome, young lady. My name is Karma. I mostly run the kitchen to prepare the meals for you. I suppose you’ve come here because you’re hungry.” Karma looked at Shen and Zed to lead Sona to the dining hall. “We will be with you shortly, dear.”

The two lead Sona to the dining hall and sat her down at the end of the long table. “So, how are you liking the castle so far?” Zed asked.

Sona scribbled on her parchment and showed it to him. _“The castle’s very spacious. I’m rather interested in the harp that’s sitting in the ballroom.”_

“Interesting. You can play music?” Shen asked.

_“I took lessons in my old country before I moved to Ionia.”_

“Ah. That explains why you look Ionian. Your writing says otherwise, though,” Zed commented, making Sona’s cheeks turn red in embarrassment.

Her embarrassment was short-lived when the kitchen doors opened with trays flooding in and placing themselves before Sona, opening up to uncover the food inside. Oh gods, she was so hungry. How was she able to withstand this hunger earlier? She thanked them for the food and helped herself to as much as she could eat to last for the day.

“Slow down, dear, you’re going to choke,” Karma warned. “Even if the master won’t let you eat, I am not having that. I will personally deliver your dinner to your room if I must, so don’t force yourself.”

Sona nodded in thanks and started eating more peacefully, feeling relieved. The servants in the castle were so kind compared to the demon. She couldn’t help but wonder why the demon wasn’t like them.

* * *

 

While Shen and Zed were giving her a tour of the unventured part of the palace, they had eventually fallen into a deep conversation that paid no mind to Sona’s presence. Figuring they wouldn’t notice if she wandered off on her own, Sona took a detour up a staircase to see what else was up there.

The surroundings seemed to become more dilapidated as she continued to ascend the stairs. Even the marble statues seemed to turn darker and more frightening as she approached the top.

Next thing she knew, a door marked with scratches and webs stood before her. Realization hit her that this was the demon’s lair. She wasn’t allowed here. But her curiosity pushed her hand to open the door and enter the room.

The room was dimly lit by a fireplace and a few candles around a king-sized bed. In other corners of the room lay shattered and torn paintings. Upon closer inspection of a torn painting by the bed, she noticed it was a painting of humans. The man in the middle, where the canvas was most damaged, seemed to stare at her with deep blue eyes. Was it the previous owner of this castle? Before the demon took over?

Not wanting to think about the fate of the former residents of the palace, she turned away to explore the room more. By the balcony of the room, where it was lit by only moonlight, a table with a mirror and a glass container with a rose sat in the center. She approached the rose, examining it closer. She raised her hand to touch the glass to admire its beauty, when a shadow loomed over her.

She sucked in a sharp breath seeing the demon standing by the balcony.

“I thought I told you this place was forbidden!” His claws clenched into fists and struck the wall with so much force that it cracked under the pressure. “Get out. Get the hell out!” he roared, sending Sona running out of the room in fright. He eyed the rose for any damage or a sign it was tainted. It took mere seconds for the demon to realize the damage he had done.

Sona choked back the lump in her throat as she ran down the main stairway with her shawl wrapped around her shoulders. She couldn’t stay here any longer. Nothing was going right. The demon could have killed her. She was so scared. She ran past the servants begging her to stay and went on her way on her horse.

The sun had set, and she could barely make out the landscape. She went through the forest to hopefully find a way out back to the road. Her eyes darted around to find an opening. Somewhere. Anywhere.

A howl following two more chilled her blood. She looked back while Hec was still running and saw a pack of wolves approaching her from behind.

Oh no.

No, no, no, no, no.

She slapped the reins against her horse to escape.

The wolves were on her tail, one even getting close enough to try nipping at Hec’s legs. In Hec’s fright, he launched Sona into the snow, trapped by the circling wolves. Sona gritted her teeth and grabbed a branch by her feet and rushed to her horse’s aid. She swung the branch at the wolves to deter them, even managing to send one collapsing into the snow.

It was no use. There was only so much she could do.

A wolf caught her swing and pulled the branch out of her hands, rendering her vulnerable. She backed up to her horse to protect it. Was this how she was going to die? All without seeing her mother one final time? She shut her eyes for her imminent death when a wolf leapt at her.

A snarl sounded from her right following a pained whine from the wolf. Sona opened her eyes to see the demon before her. But his presence didn’t discourage the wolves. They collectively leapt at the demon, trying to tear at him, only to have claws sinking into their flesh as he sent them flying at trees.

The demon glared at the wolves, a demonic rumble reverberating from his throat and sending the survivors fleeing. He fell to his knees, his body covered in blood and wounds. Unable to take the pain, he collapsed onto his side.

Sona gulped, her breath shallow and quick from the adrenaline. She pursed her lips as she glanced at the demon, whose usual glowing eyes were now dull. This was her chance. She could escape his clutches once and for all. She regained her composure and went to hop back onto her horse.

But she stopped.

She could run. She could run right now without having to look back.

The demon wouldn’t be able to chase after her.

And yet she couldn’t just leave him to die.

* * *

 

“He’s waking up!”

“Oh, thank the heavens. I thought he wouldn’t make it.”

The demon awoke to some of his servants and Sona, who hovered over him with a soaked rag in her hands, by his bedside in worry. He groaned from the sharp pain in his arm and side. Tilting his head slightly, he saw bandages on his torso and arm. “What… is going on?”

“You suffered wounds trying to save this young lady, from what she’s told us,” Karma explained. “She’s been up all night tending to your wounds.” She nudged the bowl of hot water towards Sona. “If you have any sort of common sense, you would thank her.” She jumped off the bed. “By the time I come back, I expect you to have at least done what you should do.” She hopped away out of the bedroom to meet with the other concerned servants to update them on his condition.

An awkward silence settled between them as the demon tried to find his voice to speak to her. Sona remained in her seat, staring down at her cupped hands.

“I, um,” he started, “would like to thank you for helping me. I probably could have died, if you didn’t.”

Sona glanced up at him, whose eyes gave her a sincere apology. She reached out for the parchment and started scribbling onto it. _“I accept your apology. But also, thank you for saving my life.”_ A genuine smile curled her lips for the first time since she came here.

The demon fell silent at her smile. He cleared his throat before saying, “You’re welcome.” There was another awkward pause before he cleared his throat again. “Your name was Sona, I believe?”

She nodded.

“My name is Khada Jhin. You can call me… or write, in your case, Jhin.” He stared up at the ceiling. “I believe that introduction was long overdue.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fucking love Beauty and the Beast. It's an obsession.
> 
> So sorry for the wait! I'm literally working on two stories at once, and it's hard to manage that while trying to make artworks also 8'D
> 
> I would also like to take this opportunity to advertise me and my best friend's League of Legends zine! We are hosting a charity zine that will have fanart, fanfics, collaborations, and possibly interviews, along with bonus goodies! You can check out the blog [here](https://leagueofzines.tumblr.com/)! And we currently have artist and writer [applications](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSex6AaXwF6OGfnSNFRWHKfdtwlkkscVZBLR3BMtZZAL5x_Zfg/viewform) open, so if you're interested in applying, please do so!
> 
> And make sure to check our FAQ for more information about the application too! Thank you!


	6. The Beauty Within (2/2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beauty and the Beast AU - A king is cursed by an enchantress to remain a demon until he learns to love the beauty within, given a single enchanted rose to count his days before the curse turns him into a demon for all eternity. Unless he learns to love another and gain their affection back, he will remain a demon forever. But how could anyone come to love a demon like him?

The next time Sona visited the ballroom, everything was miraculously dusted and cleaned up—even the instruments on the stage. Her jaw hung open in happy disbelief at how beautiful the golden ballroom truly was in the sunlight. Not to mention, the harp was was even more exquisite up close. 

She took a seat on the stool by the harp and plucked the strings. Ah, still out of tune. She pulled her sleeves up to get this harp in perfect condition to play. If she was going to live in this palace forever, she was going to make sure she enjoyed her stay. 

After her few attempts to tune the harp, it sounded just as good, if not better, as her own back home. She ran her fingers through the strings, sighing in content at the lovely sound. For an instrument that must have been sitting here for—heavens know how long—it was still in good shape.

Oh, it didn’t matter. Sona finally had a gorgeous harp to play.

She started plucking at the strings and slowly played a trickling melody that echoed throughout the ballroom. Her song brought her heart the comfort of her mother when she would hum a lullaby on thundering nights. 

The door of the ballroom cracked open, the servants who overheard the harp peering inside. Shen and Karma listened as Zed and Syndra danced to Sona’s music.

“Who would’ve thought the young lady could play such an elegant piece?” Syndra said, twirling back to Zed. 

“Ha, I’ll say. Reminds me of how we used to dance alone in the ballroom, when we were human,” Zed replied. 

“We still do that.” Syndra chuckled as Zed dipped her. “Old habits die hard, don’t they?” Her eyes then looked up and widened. “Y-your Majesty…” The servants tensed up and stood in front of their looming master, who had come out of his bedroom to stretch his legs after lying in bed for so long. He leaned against his cane for support as he listened in.

But Jhin didn’t say a word. He simply looked inside to find Sona playing the harp without a care in the world, as if she had forgotten all her burdens in the world. She looked… free. If he had lips, he would have felt them twitch into a smile. He was so entranced by her music that he didn’t realize he walked into the ballroom, despite the quiet warnings of his servants. When Sona ended her song, he clapped with as much vigor his injured arm could allow. 

She jumped in her seat, startled by the sharp sound in the ballroom. Her eyes flew to the demon, who was now standing in the middle of the ballroom. She blinked in surprise, not having expected him to be there. She didn’t even hear him come in.

“That was extraordinary. Did you learn how to play on your own?”

Sona nodded with a small smile. She picked up her parchment and charcoal on the floor and started writing on her lap. Her eyes quickly glanced at his approaching figure but continued to write. She held up the paper between them for him to read.  _ “I first learned how to play on my own, but I was eventually given lessons by my mother. She happened to know how to play the harp herself.” _

“Fascinating. It’s been so long since I last heard music here.” His glowing eyes looked around the ballroom almost nostalgically, but his expression quickly darkened. “Your music… It reminds me of Demacian music. Is that where you’re from?” 

She gave him a contemplating look, then scribbling on her parchment again.  _ “I was born in Ionia, but I was adopted in Demacia as a young child.” _ She pursed her lips in shame as she wrote the next line,  _ “It’s why I can’t write Ionian well.” _

“Hm. But you seem to be fluent in the language at least.” 

Her smile was uncertain as she exhaled a chuckle.  _ “A bit,” _ she wrote. 

Jhin slightly tilted his head in curiosity. He wondered what could make her smile again like before. But he shook away the preposterous thought.

She was a prisoner here. Nothing more.

Four petals.

* * *

 

When Jhin visited Sona in the ballroom again, she acknowledged his presence and continued to play while he sat by the farthest end of the platform. Despite the awkward distance, he found a hint of solace in her music. A bit of hope in the notes. 

The music suddenly stopped, and he looked up to see her staring into her reflection on the golden harp. 

“Something wrong?”

Sona glanced at him and hesitated. She picked up the parchment from the floor and showed him the paper, flipping it from the front to back. Her writing filled every free space of the parchment, no more space for her to write more on. The other pages of parchment were filled too. She sighed, troubled. There was no way for her to communicate with others anymore.

“You don’t have any more paper to write on?” He tapped a finger against his knee before standing up and gesturing her to follow him. “Come with me. I probably have more you can use.”

Her head perked up in surprise. Where would he store more blank parchments in this palace? She followed him down the halls.

Jhin opened two wooden doors, which were smaller compared to the others inside the palace, and muttered to himself as he walked through. “Let’s see…” He approached the windows to slide open the curtains for some light to filter through. “I know there are plenty of blank books stored in here somewhere…”

A soft gasp escaped Sona as she stepped inside. The size of the doors deceived the eye by hiding a grand library as big as the ballroom, shelves and shelves of books stacked to the tall ceiling. It was just as intricately-decorated as her room. She breathed out a laughter in disbelief. 

So many books. So much knowledge. So much to study.

She couldn’t contain her joy as she immediately turned to the closest bookshelf to look through the countless selection of books sorted on the shelf. She picked out a book depicting a myth of the blood moon and brushed through the pages. Her eyes landed on an illustration of a demon who looked somewhat similar to Jhin. She shut it closed and put it back in its spot when Jhin approached her with a crimson book.

“Here, this one is completely blank. There are plenty of pages to write in, also.”

Immediately, Sona scribbled into the first page of the book and showed it to Jhin with awestruck eyes.  _ “This is so amazing. I never thought I’d live to see such a grand library.” _

Jhin’s eyes seemed to flash in realization as he looked around. “Oh. Yes, I do suppose you wouldn’t see this often.” He watched Sona run across the room to pick up sheet music on a table, her lips moving in a silent whisper as she read the notes. “You are more than welcome to come to the library whenever you wish. It’s yours to use.”

Sona looked back at him with the happiest smile he had ever seen. She cradled her new crimson book against her chest as she breathed out a laugh. She mouthed her thanks. 

Mesmerized by her bright expression, his gaze lingered on her for a moment more. He then averted his eyes when she walked around the library with a skip in her step. He silently stepped out to let her enjoy her time in the library alone. He paused in the middle of the hall, his head turned to the closed doors of the ballroom to his right. 

He looked down at his claws. Wondering.

 

Oh, how embarrassing. Sona was so engrossed in the books that she didn’t even realize Jhin left the library. Plus, it was sunset. She sheepishly looked at the pile of books she wanted to read on the desk next to her. Perhaps it was a good time to leave the library.

…

Not without taking one novel to read. 

She couldn’t help but start reading the first few pages as she walked back to her room. But the faint sounds of a piano diverted her attention to the ballroom door slightly ajar. She peeked inside to see the demon standing in front of the piano next to the harp. 

Jhin played a short melody, taking pauses in-between as if he was trying to remember how to play, careful not to damage the keys with his clawed fingers. He hummed to himself at every pause before resuming again. 

How long has it been since he last played the piano? Too long, apparently. 

He shook his head and stepped away from the keys. The abrupt clapping from the entrance of the ballroom made his shoulders flinch in surprise. He saw Sona by the doorway, clapping with her new novel and blank book under her arm. “Did, did you hear all that?”

Sona nodded, scribbling something in her book as she approached him.  _ “I didn’t know you played the piano.” _

Jhin rubbed the back of his neck. “I was educated in many fields, particularly the arts, as a child. I suppose you can say the piano was a childhood pastime, but it’s been years since I played something. I’ve forgotten a lot of things.”

_ “Skills are never lost, once learned. You’ll remember everything again with some practice.” _

An amused chuckle sounded from Jhin. “Wise words.” He opened his skull-like jaw to say something but was interrupted by the entrance of Shen and Zed.

“Master, dinner is…” Shen trailed off when noticing Sona next to Jhin, “… ready…” 

Zed’s eyes darted back and forth from Sona to Jhin. “We can prepare the table for two, if… both of you will be… joining.”

Jhin’s eyes slowly moved to Sona, who looked up at him with a strange expression. He slightly averted his gaze elsewhere, not knowing what she was thinking. He suppressed voicing his surprise when Sona gave him a small smile and shrugged to accept attending dinner.

As they followed Shen and Zed to the dining hall, Jhin continued to stare at the back of Sona’s head. Had she ever come down for a meal before today? He didn’t understand what made her change her mind.

Three petals.

* * *

“Miss Buvelle? Miss Buvelle, are you awake?”

Lestara awoke to a blurry vision, her mind hazy and stagnant. “What…?” she croaked, her throat dry and scratchy, trying to sit up. “Where am I?” Her blurriness slowly cleared away to see the librarian with a cup of tea in her hands. She coughed, now noticing that she was shivering under the covers.

“In my cottage. I found you collapsed in the forest, Miss Buvelle,” the librarian explained as she handed Lestara the cup. “What were you doing out there alone? Weren’t you with Yasuo?”

“I was looking for my daughter,” she answered, coughing between her words and taking a sip of tea. “I wanted Yasuo’s help, but he abandoned me in the middle of the forest. I couldn’t find Sona in the end…”

“Sona? What happened to Sona?”

“A demon took her prisoner in exchange for my freedom,” Lestara bitterly muttered. She glanced at the librarian, who fell silent at her words. “Yes, I know. A demon, in these forests. Yasuo didn’t believe me either.” She was so tired and so ill. She shut her eyes and pressed her palms to her temples to soothe her piercing headache. “But I know I wasn’t dreaming. I know she’s still trapped in that castle.”

“The demon lives in a castle, also?”

“You must think I’m crazy, but I am telling you the truth.”

The librarian shook her head. “The world has endless possibilities. I do not think you are insane, Miss Buvelle, I believe you.” She gently lay Lestara back into bed again and pulled the covers over her. “But you cannot go back out there in your current condition. You can stay here as long as you’d like until you recover though. If Sona is still in the castle, then I don’t think she will go anywhere else.”

Lestara felt sleep tugging at her consciousness. Her eyelids were heavy against her desire to stay awake, her need to find Sona. “Yes, I, I suppose so… Thank you…”

“Get your rest now. You will need it.” The librarian placed the back of her hand to Lestara’s forehead and then placed a cold rag on top. She looked out her window, a knowing glint in her eyes as she stared beyond the forests. “I’m sure Sona is doing fine.”

* * *

 

Sona sat on a stone bench on the balcony of the ballroom, an open book in hand and the warm sun on her skin. Her breath turned into a white mist as she sighed in bliss. A snow-covered garden sat below the stairs of the balcony, a small lake now frozen seen in the distance. Winter was beautiful when seen clearly.

The past few days, she had been spending her time in the library to practice writing her Ionian. Outside of the library, she was either taking a stroll through the garden or playing the harp. Recently, however, Jhin had been frequenting the library and even pointing out stroke orders or a suggesting improvements to her writing. It had helped her improve faster than she expected to.

Her eyes caught movement in the garden, focusing on the dark mass in the gazebo at the center of the rosebushes. Oh, it was Jhin. She tilted her head in curiosity when he seated himself inside. She marked her page and closed the book, sneaking downstairs to see him closer.

Hiding behind a pillar, she peeked through vines of white roses to see the demon sketching something on a piece of parchment while humming to himself. She quietly approached the gazebo, wondering what he was sketching. She leaned on the fence behind him and tried to look over his shoulder. 

With a piece of black and white charcoal, Jhin sketched the roses growing around the gazebo. His drawings were rather realistic, and the contrast of the white made the roses stand out. Strangely, he hadn’t noticed Sona watching him from behind yet.

A small bird then flew down into the gazebo, possibly looking for shelter from the cold winter winds. It perched itself by the edge of the table, shaking melted snow off its feathers. 

Jhin huffed in laughter as he moved onto a drawing of the bird in another corner of the parchment. “I’m surprised you haven’t flown south for the winter, little one.”

This… was unexpected. Had he ever spoken in such a soft and gentle voice before? Sona couldn’t recall a moment when he didn’t speak in his usual strict, rumbling voice. But then again, she had been spending more time with him recently. He would speak to her with more freedom in his tone and add gentler gestures as he spoke.

Perhaps she had just never noticed this side of him before.

Sona snapped out of her thoughts when the bird flew out of the gazebo, much to Jhin’s disappointment as he had only managed to get a sketch of the bird without shading it. She looked down at the snow-covered fence and glanced up at Jhin, who now sighed and seemed to be lost in thought. 

A smile curled her lips as she rolled a ball of snow in her hands and stepped away from the pillar. She threw the snowball at Jhin’s back, the impact pulling him to reality and turning him around to see Sona laughing behind the vines of roses. She gasped and jerked away when a snowball smashed into the pillar she was hiding.

Jhin chuckled to himself as he made another in his claws. He can play this game too.

Sona also made another snowball and stood back up to see the gazebo empty. Her eyes darted around for the crimson and blue clothing of the demon to throw it at him. She then spotted him by the denser rose vines and smirked, readying her aim.

They both threw their snowball, each hitting the other’s face and sending them falling to the snow.

On the balcony, watching from the wooden railings, were some of the servants, who had seen Sona sneak down the stairs into the garden. 

“Well, I’ll be,” Karma said. “Who would have thought His Majesty would do that?”

“I’m more surprised that she had the guts to throw a snowball at him,” Zed remarked. “I thought she was a goner after that.”

Syndra hummed in thought. “But it certainly is a different reaction than we all expected.”

“His Majesty seems to be changing. For the better, I’d even say.” The gears in Shen ticked happily seeing Jhin be more open with Sona of his own accord.

Something was different. Something different about them both. Something that wasn’t there the first time.

* * *

 

Karma had fixed them a nice bowl of porridge, courtesy to Shen for the suggestion, for dinner after their snowball match while they warmed up by the fireplace. Jhin glanced up at Sona seated at the opposite end of the table. Her eyes were glued to the novel on a bookstand by her meal as she ate.

He hesitated for a moment when he held his bowl in his claws. A sudden burst of courage compelled him to stand up and approach Sona, who looked up from her book. “May I?” 

Sona blinked in surprise but gestured to him to sit. She watched him place his bowl on the table and pause, falling into an awkward silence. She couldn’t hold back her smile and giggled at his attempt to be friendly.  _ “Would you like to try practicing the piano in the ballroom later?” _ she wrote. 

“Oh,” Jhin said. “That would be nice, I suppose, to be able to play the piano like I used to again.” His eyes darted to her and back to his porridge. “If you don’t mind.”

_ “Not at all.” _

* * *

 

“Maybe I shouldn’t,” Jhin protested as Sona dragged him to the piano. “I doubt I can go back to what I learned. It’s been years, Sona.”

Sona rolled her eyes in amusement as she pointed at the chair to tell him to sit.  _ “Practice makes perfect, you know. If I can learn the harp on my own, you can learn the piano again too.” _

Jhin hesitantly sat in front of the piano, his claws brushing against the cover. “Yes, but…” He turned to Sona with a shrug. “I think music suits you better. You have a way with music that feels… soothing.” His gaze on Sona lingered before he quickly looked away. “Besides, I believe I do much better with dancing in the first place. I used to hold balls here back when I was human—” His jaws then shut closed.

Human? Sona’s brows furrowed as she scribbled something into her book.  _ “You were human?” _

Shit, he couldn’t deny it now. Jhin awkwardly stared at the keys under his fingers. “Uh, yes. Everyone here was. But because of a terrible mistake I made, a curse was cast onto me and the people of this palace.” His finger played a single note and let it drone. “The rose up in the balcony… It’s a timer.”

If she recalled correctly, the rose only had about five petals left on the stem. But a timer for what? She shot him a questioning look.

“When the last petal falls, I will be a demon forever. My servants will turn to… regular furniture. All because of the kind of person I used to be… I dragged other people into it.” Another droning note.

_ “Is there anything I can do to help?” _

Ah, how tormenting this was. Perhaps this was also part of the enchantress’ plan. Jhin only shook his head. “No, it’s just not something that can be achieved.” He chuckled bitterly to himself. “I’m already prepared for the consequences, so you don’t have to worry about it.” He lifted his claws from the piano. “Anyways, back to what I was saying, I don’t think music is right for me. It’s more your forte.”

She pursed her lips, slightly disappointed that he wouldn’t say more on the topic. But she didn’t want to push him. Wanting to change subject, she opened her book and scribbled into it.  _ “You prefer dancing more, I assume?” _ she wrote.

“I’ve been told I do that best.” Jhin chuckled. “It’s been a while, but I doubt I got rusty.” He stood up and took steps around the platform, his hands raised up as if he was holding someone in his arms. He hummed a song to himself as he danced to the beat. 

Sona’s face brightened as she watched him dance around her. She slowly made her way to the harp and improvised a song to Jhin’s tune. She smiled when Jhin looked at her in surprise. She strummed the strings to insist he continue his dance. A giggle escaped her when Jhin brought his hands down and danced to her music like a solo dancer. 

Jhin danced well, Sona had to admit. He made dancing seem like it was second nature. She clapped when her song came to an end, Jhin bowing in courtesy.  _ “That was wonderful. Did you improvise all that?” _

“Most of it,” Jhin answered with a chuckle. “I told you I could dance better.”

_ “You should teach me how to dance. I was never good at it.” _

Something similar to a snort sounded from Jhin. “Did you step on other people’s feet?”

Sona pouted, slapping Jhin’s chest in retaliation. She then scribbled,  _ “Maybe…” _

A chuckle. “Hm, what do you think of having a dance tomorrow night then? A ball of our own? Perhaps a Demacian-style ball.” The amusement in his tone disappeared when he realized what he uttered. “Uh, actually, that might be a bad idea,” he stuttered. “There won’t be any music to dance to if you’re dancing with me. That’s a rather silly…”

She nodded. 

“Uh, what?”

She blinked before nodding again, with a smile this time.  _ “I’d love to,” _ she wrote. 

Two petals.

* * *

 

“Miss Buvelle, where are you going?” The librarian grabbed Lestara’s wrist to stop her from leaving the cottage. “You are only starting to recover, but you are still ill. You can’t expect to find Sona in this condition!”

“No, but I can ask someone else to help me.” Lestara brushed off the librarian and rushed outside to the bar again, where surely the town’s strongest hunters were there. If Yasuo wasn’t going to help her, she’d ask another.

“Oh dear, Miss Buvelle…!” The librarian chased followed her in concern.

Lestara entered the bar again, seeing more patrons than usual. But she did spot the town hunters seated around with their cups of sake. And Yasuo. 

Yasuo turned to see Lestara and the librarian close behind. “Again? Don’t you think you’ve said enough, Buvelle?”

“Buvelle, Yasuo’s already told us that these ‘demons’ you speak of were just wolves,” one hunter said, barking in laughter. “You can’t expect any of us to believe you.”

“Yeah, we get you’ve never hunted demons before, but wolves ain’t them.”

“Mind you, I said there is  _ a _ demon, not  _ demons _ . I am also aware that there were wolves. But the demon is real, lives in a castle, and still has my daughter in his clutches,” she hissed. “Besides, I am not going to listen to the man who decided to help me but ended up abandoning me in the forest instead. I can ask anyone else for help.” She suppressed a cough that threatened to break free and pulled her shawl closer to hide her shivering.

“You led me to what could have been our death. I wasn’t going to risk my life only to die from wolves,” Yasuo argued. His eyes narrowed to a glare. “I will repeat myself, but I doubt there is another demon in our forests.” He turned his attention to the green-haired librarian behind Lestara. “Don’t tell me you believe her too.”

“I do,” the librarian stated. 

“Ha!” he barked. “Why would I even bother asking the person who sticks her nose in magical worlds all day? No offense.” The librarian didn’t say a word and still stayed close to Lestara. 

Lestara sighed in exasperation. “How can I show you proof when you won’t even give me a second chance? I  _ know _ the castle is out there in that forest!”

“Buvelle, I don’t know what demon you’re claiming you’ve seen. But we can’t go unless we have proof!” one hunter said.

“That’s why I—” Lestara suddenly went into a bout of harsh coughs, collapsing to her knees. The librarian caught Lestara and rubbed her back to soothe the coughing. 

“Are you ill?” Yasuo asked in scorn. “All this talk about a demon, a castle, and talking furniture… They’re just hallucinations from your illness.”

“I am  _ not _ hallucinating—” She stopped in another coughing fit. 

Yasuo rolled his eyes. “What you need is a hospital.” He looked around, sending looks to some of the hunters gathered in the bar. 

The hunters stood up and took Lestara by the arms, hoisting her up to her feet and restraining her arms. 

“What are you doing? Let go of me!” She tried to shake off the hunters, but her illness made her weak against them.

“I think we should take Buvelle somewhere safe before she ends up hurting herself,” he paused to look at her with cold eyes, “or others.”

“Are you mad?” Lestara hissed. 

“No, but at this point,  _ you _ might be.” Yasuo nodded his head at the hunters. “Take her to the isolation chamber.”

“You can’t do this, Yasuo! I need to find my daughter! She’s still out there!” Lestara shouted as she was dragged out of the bar, the other patrons following behind. “Yasuo!”

* * *

 

“Your outfit is a little smaller than before, Your Majesty,” Shen commented. “Though, it’s not a drastic change. Just a little short on the ankles.”

Jhin stood in front of a mirror, wearing an intricate Ionian robe of dark blue and gold. He stared at his reflection, silent.

“Your Majesty?”

Shen’s voice seemed to snap Jhin out of his thoughts. “Ah. It wouldn’t be much trouble for the, the dance, would it?”

Shen gave Zed a curious look. “Are you doing alright?”

“I didn’t think she’d agree to such a silly idea,” Jhin huffed. “I won’t deny that I wasn’t joking, but I expected her to laugh it off.” He held his arms out and twisted his torso to look at himself from the back. He turned back and sighed, his shoulders drooping and his claw covering his face. “I feel like a fool.”

“But you like her, don’t you?” Zed asked.

“I…”

“Now, now, we have no time for chit-chat,” Karma insisted. “The young lady is probably getting ready to meet you in the ballroom.”

“What if I mess this up?” He looked at his claw, opening and closing it. “I haven’t properly danced with anyone in years.”

“Then you’ll both have to learn together,” Karma said, hopping up to the tray table. “If you do care for her, this shouldn’t be a horrible experience, Your Majesty. Treat her as you have been recently, and you will do just fine.” Karma looked around her and then at Shen and Zed. “Have you two seen Akali and Kayn?”

“Akali’s with the young lady, from what I know.”

Zed sighed. “Kayn must have followed her.”

Karma groaned. “Of all people to become teacups, why did it have to be them? They’d end up breaking all the fine china with how much they fight.”

Jhin held back the laughter bubbling in his stomach. 

 

“You look wonderful, Sona. The dress really suits you.” Akali nudged Kayn, who opened his mouth to say something. “If you don’t say anything nice, I will not hesitate to push you off this dresser, Kayn,” she hissed. 

“First of all,” Kayn said as he pushed Akali away from him, “I was going to say I was surprised Ahri had something that was her size. All she needed were some adjustments, and look at her. The dress fits to her body.”

“Oh, the dress was something Sona and I thought of together.” Ahri giggled as she sent a knowing look to Sona. “We’ve been having fun with fashion for the past few days.” She lifted Sona’s arms to see their hard work. “Oh, the crimson and gold really brings out your brown hair, Sona. You look so beautiful!”

Sona huffed out a shy laughter, tucking her bangs behind her ear, where golden cuffs wrapped around with small white roses. 

“It doesn’t look bad at all, and that’s coming from me,” Kayn said. He butted Akali, who nudged him again with her cup handle. 

“I think His Maj—I mean, the master will like it.” 

_ “You think so?” _ she wrote into her book.  _ “I wouldn’t want to outshine his own look.” _

“Ooh.” Kayn cackled, rolling onto his side. “Now that attitude, I like.”

Sona flashed a proud grin for her joke.

“All jokes aside, you should get ready to go out, Sona.” Syndra flew down from the top of the mirror to the dresser.

“It’s almost time.” Ahri gave Sona a slight nudge before Sona left the room. “Go out there and dance the night away. Have fun!”

 

Jhin waited by the east staircase, keeping his claws behind his back to hide his fidgeting fingers. Perhaps this was a terrible suggestion. A ball with the woman he imprisoned when she first came here? Just what was he thinking? He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the rustling of clothing against carpet. He looked up to see Sona descending the western staircase in her dress.

In that moment, he felt his heart skip a beat. Sona looked stunning. The crimson and gold of her dress brought out her sea green eyes. He swallowed the sudden lump of anxiousness down his throat as he approached her. His jaw opened as if to say something, but there were no words. 

Sona’s eyes squinted as she smiled. Jhin looked lovely in his robes. Strangely enough, the contrast of the dark blue and his magenta horns looked great. “You look fantastic,” she breathed out as clearly as she could.

“Oh, uh, thank you. You, um, you look gorgeous as well.” The blissful smile Sona gave made his heart skip another beat. He took another deep breath as he held out his arm to her. “Shall we?”

Sona happily linked her arm around his. They slowly descended the merging stairs to the ballroom, where standing coat racks stood on the platform with a violin, harp, and piano. Shen, Zed, and Karma stood on top of the piano, waving. The coat racks bowed their heads to Jhin and Sona before turning to each other and playing a soft tune.

“Huh,” Jhin grunted. “I can’t believe they got them to play music for this.” They stopped at the center of the ballroom, now facing each other. “Shame. I was ready to hum for the whole dance.”

A giggle shook Sona’s shoulders. They shared eye contact for a moment before looking away in an awkward silence.

Jhin cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He held his claws out and bowed. “May I have this dance?”

She also bowed and placed her hands on top of his and stepped closer. She looked into his eyes, her expression asking what they do next. He closed his fingers around her hand gently and stepped to the side. Sona followed suit by stepping to the other side. They were slow, but they eventually fell into little steps around the center of the ballroom, keeping with the music.

With a twirl here and there, their strides became larger the more they grew comfortable dancing with each other. Sona took care not to step onto Jhin’s feet, but he made sure to step aside in time without missing a beat. After a few rounds, they danced around the ballroom while being able to keep their eyes on each other.

“To think we’d be able to see His Majesty like this,” Zed whispered. “I thought it’d be impossible, and yet.”

“He was always one to surprise us with his unpredictable actions.” Karma chuckled. “But this is one change I never would have thought I’d see either.”

“Maybe we’ll really be able to become human again.”

“Oh, never mind that. His Majesty is beginning to see the true beauty inside now. That’s about good enough, don’t you think?”

Zed smirked, watching Jhin pick Sona up and twirl her around. “Yeah. That sounds about right.”

As the song came to a close, Jhin and Sona came back together, not having broken eye contact. Their gazes lingered into their eyes for another moment before they bowed their heads. Jhin held his claw out again, now turned to the balcony outside. Sona looked down at his claw, but she linked arms with him instead.

They headed out the balcony arm-in-arm, letting the cold air cool them. Jhin couldn’t help but stare at Sona’s backlit figure in the winter night. 

She was so beautiful. Yet she seemed so distant with a hint of loneliness in her eyes. He knew that longing look. 

“Is it your mother?” he asked. 

Sona glanced at him before sighing, her eyes casting to the ground. She nodded.

“You must miss her.” Seeing her nod again, Jhin looked out into the horizon with her. A thought was beginning to form in his mind, an idea that he would have dared not to do before. “Let me show you your mother.” He guided her up to his room, where the mirror lay on top of the table next to the enchanted rose. He held up the circular mirror to her. “The enchantress gave me this mirror to show me anything I wished for. So if you wish to see your mother, it will show you what she’s doing.”

The mirror was slightly bigger than her two hands together, but it was light. It seemed to sparkle in the moonlight like stardust. She held the mirror close to her lips as she whispered, “Please let me see my mother.”

Sona’s reflection changed into a display of her mother, angrily resisting the grip of two hunters holding her and Yasuo leading them to the isolation chamber of the village. Her eyes widened, and her breath quickened in panic. Her mother was in trouble. She looked so ill, too. Sona showed Jhin the mirror, panic and worry coloring her eyes. 

Jhin’s jaw slightly hung open. “Oh no. Your mother…”

Sona looked at the mirror again, not knowing what to do. Tears pricked at her eyes watching her mother look so helpless. 

It seemed Jhin would have to give in to the thought. The feeling he had in his heart. His claw tightened into a fist before he released it. “Go to your mother,” he said. “I free you from your sentence. Now, go. There’s no time to waste.”

Sona gazed at Jhin in shock. She was free. She was free to go. But he was right. There was no time to waste. Sona gave back the mirror to Jhin, but he pushed it back into her hands. 

“Keep it. Use it to find your way to the village… and you’ll have something to remember me by.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” she breathed out. Before she left, she held Jhin’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you,” she whispered once more. She ran out of the room as fast as her legs could take her. She took her shawl from the coat rack by the door and took one last look at the palace. Without another moment to spare, she rode her horse back to the village, the mirror in hand and her book and charcoal in the sack tied around her neck.

 

“Y-Your Majesty? What have you done?” Shen’s panicked voice sounded from the other side of the room. 

“The young lady just left the castle! What’s going on?!” Zed suddenly skidded into Jhin’s room.

“I set her free. I had to.”

“But why, Your Majesty?”

Jhin turned to the glass container with the rose inside. There was one petal left. He let out a bitter laugh. “Strange, isn’t it? That I fell in love with her enough to let her go.” His claw brushed against the glass. “I love her. I really do.”

“But if we haven’t become human yet, that means…”

“She doesn’t love him back.”

The truth was cold and harsh like the winter. Jhin felt its cold pierce in his once-frozen heart that had now melted from Sona’s warmth and kindness. It hurt. “You kept me from becoming insane with what I’ve become, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. But I’m sorry I couldn’t free you all from my mistake.”

Shen and Zed let out a quiet, defeated sigh. Their fate was now sealed. Jhin would be a demon for all eternity, and they would become inanimate furniture. 

“Your Majesty, it was an honor to serve you. We are happy that you have learned to see the beauty within and love another person.” The two bowed deeply to Jhin.

“Go handle what you must. Our time is almost over.”

They left the room to Jhin and his own thoughts to kiss their loved ones goodbye.

Jhin watched Sona leave from the balcony. He sighed forlornly, knowing she might never come back to this castle. But he didn’t regret his decision. He paid the price.

Even if it meant never seeing her ever again.

All he could do now was to wait with despair by his side.

* * *

 

Sona rode through the biting wind back to her village, using the mirror to find the path. She jumped over the town gates and pulled her horse to a stop next to the crowd. She hopped off and ran to the isolation chamber to see her mother behind its bars. 

“Oh my gods, Sona! You’re back! You’re finally back!” Lestara cried out.

The town fell silent at Sona’s sudden appearance. They slightly backed away when Sona jerked her head behind her to glare at the hunters who locked Lestara up. 

“Sona Buvelle. You came just in time,” Yasuo said. He approached the chamber despite Sona’s piercing glare and crouched. “You know, your mother has been talking about some sort of demon living in a castle in the forests. Talking furniture, too. She’s quite ill, and unfortunately, her illness is making her hallucinate these things.” He shook his head in mock concern. “We can’t let her go until she’s recovered in a hospital.”

Sona angrily wrote into her book and showed it to Yasuo.

“Buvelle, you know I can’t read. But I can already tell what you want to say.” Yasuo turned to Sona with a raised brow. “If you can show me evidence, maybe I’ll believe the both of you.”

She placed her book onto the ground and grabbed her mirror, holding it close to her lips as she whispered, “Please show me the demon.” When the mirror reflected Jhin, she shoved the mirror at Yasuo’s face. 

The demon was real. Yasuo snatched the mirror out of Sona’s hands and stood up. “What is this…” he growled. “A demon in our forests? One that I haven’t slayed yet?” He showed the mirror to the frightened villagers. “Look at him! It’s the king of the demons! Only the king would have such human-like features to deceive us. If we don’t do anything about him, he might send more demons out into our forests to kill us all!”

The villagers started to murmur to each other, their whispers growing louder and louder.

“He might take our children as sacrifices!”

“Enslave us all!”

“We can’t let him wander free and let him do as he wishes!”

“Then I say we go slay that demon!” Yasuo exclaimed, holding the mirror up, the crowd crying out in agreement. He stumbled when Sona shoved him to take the mirror back. “You.” He seized Sona’s wrist and tore her off him, holding her at a distance. “I can feel it. The demon has you under a spell. That’s why he sent you back with this mirror.”

Sona writhed in his powerful grip, but she couldn’t escape. She shook her head desperately. No, it wasn’t like that. The demon was shy and reserved once she got to know him. The demon liked to eat dumplings as a snack. The demon loved to read and sketch roses. The demon even let her go to save her mother.

Jhin was kind and caring underneath his demonic appearance.

Yasuo’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. He dragged Sona towards the hunters keeping guard. “Lock her up too. We can’t have her interfering with our plans, not when she’s cursed by the demon.”

They threw her into the cell with Lestara, who took Sona into her arms and whispered words of relief. “Oh my gods. Sona. Sona, you’re safe.”

“Gather your swords and torches! Tonight, we will have war with the king of demons!” He unsheathed his sword and pointed to the village gates. “Get your horses, and we will find that castle if it’s the last thing we do!” He pushed the shoulder of the librarian, who watched this unfold. “Don’t think I didn’t see you,  _ librarian _ . You’re coming with us, whether you like it or not. Can’t have you letting the demon’s pawn go.”

As Yasuo turned around to head to the village gates, a sadistic smile curled his lips. Finally. A demon that can get him all the glory in all of Ionia. Everyone will hear of him and his great battle with the king of all demons. Oh, how he longed to savor the taste of slaying demons again. 

“Show me the way to the castle,” Yasuo demanded as he moved on.

Sona shook the iron bars in desperation, one rattling against its hole in the stone wall above, as she watched a line of villagers march towards the forest. She had to warn Jhin. He was going to get killed! 

“What happened, Sona? How did you escape from the castle?”

She reached for her book and charcoal that lay scattered on the ground after she was thrown in.  _ “He let me go to save you.” _

Lestara gave her an incredulous look, her brows furrowing. “I beg your pardon?  _ The demon _ let you go willingly?”

Sona nodded as she continued to write in her book.  _ “He is a kind being, mother. He gave me this blank book and even taught me how to write Ionian better. There was more than what met the eye. You need to help me escape this place and warn him.” _

Her mother still looked unsure. “He… really did all that for you?” Sona’s affirming expression made Lestara hesitate. She never would have thought such a terrifying demon would have the compassion. But her daughter never lied. Why would she, when was imprisoned in her place? She coughed, pulling her shawl closer. “Alright. We need to get you to that castle.” She looked up at the iron bar that was rattling against the stone. “We need to heat up this bar just enough so that we can bend it with something heavy to get it out.”

A gasp sounded from Sona when she looked to the side of the bars, a lit torch sitting just out of arm’s length. She reached out and grabbed the torch out of its holder. She handed it to Lestara, who held the fire by the center of the bar while Sona searched around for something heavy.

In the corner of the cell was a metal water jug, dented and rusted from use. She picked it up with slight struggle and walked over to Lestara. After a few more seconds, the iron was red hot. Sona whacked the iron bar with the edge of the water jug, denting the iron and nearly taking it out of its socket. 

Lestara held the fire to the bar again. But Sona tossed the jug away and ripped the sleeve of her dress to wrap it around her shoe. Once the iron was red hot again, she kicked the area as hard as she can manage while holding onto the other bars for support. One more kick sent the bar flying out onto the dirt. The space was just enough for both of them to squeeze through from the side. 

“Hec! Here, boy!” Lestara called, their horse galloping over. Sona hopped onto the saddle and placed her shawl around Lestara’s shoulders to keep her warmer. “Promise me you’ll come back soon.”

Sona nodded to keep her promise.

“Then go. Hyah!” She watched them leave the village, worried but knowing she couldn’t do much in her state. She could only hope.

* * *

 

“So this is finally the end,” Syndra said as she leaned against Zed. “Despite our impending fate, I feel relief. His Majesty finally learned how to love.”

“It was nice to be able to see it happen before we turned into regular furniture, at least,” Akali said. “I’m very proud of His Majesty.”

Kayn suddenly turned to the window above him. “Wait. Do you hear that?” He hopped up the tray table and onto the window sill. He gasped. “Shit. Invaders! I knew that bitch was up to no good!”

The other servants looked out the window and looked in shock at the amount of people who had come to attack the castle. “It doesn’t matter! We need to protect this castle until our dying breath!” Shen exclaimed. “Get all the servants to come and hold down the fort! I’m going to warn His Majesty.” He rushed down the hall while the others scattered to bring every servant possible down to the first floor.

Jhin stood by the balcony, watching the line of people with swords and torches in their hands. Despair tore at his heart, but he embraced it like an old friend. Perhaps it was better this way. He’d be spared from the heartache. 

“Your Majesty, we’re being invaded!” Shen announced. “What are we going to do?”

“She’s definitely not coming back,” Jhin muttered as he looked down at the crowd of people searching for something to break down the door. “Just let them come.”

 

“Shen, this isn’t working!” Zed shouted at Shen, who came running back from Jhin’s room. “They broke down a fucking pillar, and they’re using it to smash the door open!”

Time was running short. Shen looked at all the servants around, and his gears began to turn. “I have an idea! Everyone, get away from the door and act like regular furniture!”

The villagers heaved the pillar against the door, breaking it down from its hinges, met by a dark castle. They slowly inched forward, looking around for the so-called demon. But there was only furniture. 

“Ha, are these the talking furniture Buvelle was talking about? What a joke,” Yasuo sneered. “As if any of these metal scraps can do anything.”

“Now! Attack!” Zed cried. Immediately, the castle lit up, revealing all sorts of furniture from the castle that leapt into the crowd to fight them off.

“What the?!” Yasuo ducked from an oncoming punch from a coat rack. He stared at the fighting furniture, unable to believe his eyes. They were real. They moved. They talked. They could fight. He evaded a moving chair that tripped the people in its way. “Damn it. Show me the demon.” The mirror reflected the demon’s backside as he looked out onto the balcony. “Found you.” Yasuo swiftly headed up the stairs while dodging attacks and went on to find the demon.

He climbed staircases and staircases, finally reaching the room the mirror reflected. He smirked, throwing the mirror onto the ground and shattering it. He opened the door to see Jhin still watching from the balcony, his back turned to Yasuo. 

“So you’re the demon Buvelle warned me about,” Yasuo said. “And here I thought she had gone mad!” He fell into a stance as he held the tip of his sword at the demon, who still didn’t turn around. “You’re about to give me what I deserve in all of Ionia, monster.” He roared as he dashed towards the demon and aimed to hack his shoulder.

But Jhin turned with his arm up, the hardy spikes stopping Yasuo’s blade from cutting skin. Yasuo clicked his tongue and kicked him off the balcony, sending him flying onto the roof of the lower floor. Below, he saw the villagers flee from the castle as his servants triumphantly chase them away. They were doing their best to protect him and their home. Jhin growled as he stood up and stared at the man above him. If he was going to die, he’d rather put up a fight than this. 

Yasuo arrogantly chuckled at the demon’s helplessness. “If you don’t want to fight me, it’ll make it easier on me.” He was about to hop down the roof before something tugged at his sword. He turned to see Sona gripping the edge of his blade with her hands wrapped in fabric. “How did you get out?!”

Sona glared at Yasuo as she yanked the sword out of his hand and tossed it out the balcony. She gritted her teeth as she turned her palms up, a gash across her hands despite having wrapped her other sleeve around them to protect her skin. She breathed out a yelp when Yasuo grabbed her hair and pushed her to the floor of the balcony.

“You bitch! How dare you?!”

Jhin looked up to see the chestnut brown hair and sea green eyes he’s known that peered down from the bars of the balcony. “Sona. Sona! You came back!” Wet droplets spilled onto his face, his fingers touching the substance and seeing red. Blood. It was her blood. A primal roar ripped from his throat when he looked at Yasuo.

“Now that’s more like it.” Yasuo jumped down from the balcony, pulling out a shorter sword from another sheath tied to the back of his waist. “Give me a good fight that’ll make this worthwhile, demon.”

Sona ignored the pain in her palms and went downstairs. 

He ran towards Jhin, using his shorter sword to his advantage to gain a closer distance and faster reflexes. His blows were blocked by the spikes on Jhin’s arms. He leapt into the air to strike his sword into Jhin’s head, but Jhin held his ground by holding his arms up. An opening. Yasuo kicked his chin, throwing him off balance and slicing him across the chest. 

“Gah!” Jhin cried out. He pressed his claw to his wound, blood oozing out and soaking his robes. This wasn’t good. He had to escape. He ran into the shadowed part of the tower and climbed up the ivy growing on the walls. 

Yasuo ran after him, seeing nothing until he looked up. “Come back here, you coward!” He started climbing up the ivy also, catching up to Jhin as quickly as possible.

Sona watched them climb up to the rooftop, looking around for anything she could do to stop Yasuo.  _ Anything _ . And yet there was nothing. She panicked as she ran back up the stairs to the last floor, seeing Yasuo reaching the roof above her. She glanced at the ivy on the wall and up at the roof. Her eyes flared in determination as she gripped one of the thicker vines and made her way up to the roof.

Jhin continued to evade Yasuo’s strikes with the occasional block with his arms. He couldn’t keep this up at this rate. The soft tapping of shoes against roof tiles sounded from his left and a blur of crimson and gold flashed towards Yasuo. “Sona!” Sona grabbed Yasuo’s wrist and tried to pry his hand off the sword. 

“Stop getting in my way!” Yasuo shoved Sona aside with enough strength to send her rolling down the roof. She fell off the edge, her injured hands grabbing the edge to hold her up. She looked down. The balcony was too far for her to land without hurting herself. 

“Sona!” Jhin roared as he grasped Yasuo’s arm and threw him onto the tiles, Yasuo’s sword flying out of his hand. He took this opportunity to kick the sword off the roof to render Yasuo weaponless. “If you have any sort of common sense,” he growled, stomping on Yasuo’s wrist with enough power to break the bones and get a pained cry from Yasuo, “you will leave. Forever.” He then rushed to Sona’s aid. 

Sona couldn’t hold on for much longer. One hand slipped off the edge from the pain, and her strength was draining from her other hand. Jhin’s claw suddenly grabbed hold of her wrist to pull her up. 

“I’m here! I’m here. Hold on.” But when Jhin was just about to hoist her back up, searing pain coursed through his body from his back. He cried out in pain, almost letting go of Sona but regaining his grip on her.

Yasuo had taken out a dagger from underneath his robes and stabbed Jhin through the back, where his heart was, ripping the blade out. “You’re mine now, demon!” Suddenly, Jhin’s claw reached out to grab Yasuo by the collar. “No…” Yasuo whispered as he realized what was going to happen. “No!”

Jhin slipped off the edge of the roof, taking Yasuo with him and using the momentum and the last of his strength to toss him out beyond the balcony. He then wrapped himself around Sona’s body to take the fall onto the floor, while Yasuo fell to his death.

Sona gasped for air as she pulled out of Jhin’s grip. She held Jhin’s claws as she examined his wounds. A slice through the chest and a deep stab through his back. Jhin was breathing heavily as his eyes remained on Sona. “No, no, no,” she whispered. 

“You came back,” Jhin croaked. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.” He brushed a finger against her cold skin. “I apologize, Sona. But I don’t think I’ll be able to stay here much longer.” The blue glow from his eyes was beginning to flicker and fade into a duller color. “I’m glad I was able to see you one last time…”

She shook her head, holding his claw against her cheek, tears surfacing from her eyes. “Please,” she sobbed. “Please, please, please.” 

It was too late. Jhin’s eyes finally blinked out from his sockets, his chest barely rising up and down with his breath and all his strength gone from his claws. 

In the glass container, the last petal fell from the rose stem and shriveled as it reached the bottom. Everything in the castle grew darker. Quieter. Everyone’s lives faded into nothing one by one.

Tears flowed down and dropped from her lashes, wetting Jhin’s face. She wiped the droplets of blood off his white skull, begging him to stay with her. When the truth finally settled in, a croaking sob broke out from her as she held his limp body in her arms and pressed her forehead to his. “Please,” she whispered. “I love you…”

Watching from behind the table, the librarian held her palm out to the glass container. She gazed at Jhin as her touch turned the glass into stardust and flowed towards him with the fallen petals. Her forest green hair then turned dark blue as her slightly tattered clothing turned golden, revealing her to be the enchantress of stars.

Sona stood up, startled, and watched the golden stardust and red petals surround Jhin. The straying stardust wrapped around her hands to heal the gashes in her palms.

Slowly, Jhin’s claws and beast-like feet turned into human hands and feet. The white, skull-like head was engulfed in light, black hair flying forth and settling onto sunkissed skin. The stardust and petals flew away, leaving a human in the demon’s place. The human looked at his hands and feet, patting his torso in disbelief. He then turned around to see Sona, who was approaching him with curiosity in her eyes. 

She wordlessly caressed his cheek, brushing his black hair against her fingers. She looked into his eyes, seeing the very same shade of blue the demon once had. She choked back a happy sob as realization settled into her. It was Jhin. It was the Jhin she knew. He was human again. 

Their faces inched closer and closer until their lips met, Sona wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her torso to pull each other closer.

The enchantress smiled and disappeared into starlight, leaving a single, normal rose in her place.

The sun began to rise from the horizon, its rays drowning the castle in light and changing the darkness and frightening atmosphere into beautiful, golden statues and architecture, back to the way the castle was. The servants, who had become inanimate furniture, came back to life in their human bodies again.

“Father!” Akali cried as she ran to Shen, who had become human again. “You’re human! We’re all human!”

“I can’t believe it,” Shen muttered as he felt his beating heart once more. “Zed? Kayn? Syndra?” He turned to see Zed, Kayn, and Syndra in a close embrace. “They did it. They saved us…” 

In the distance, the villagers who had fled were coming back from the forest, suddenly feeling a sense of familiarity for the castle behind them. An older man with dull red hair rushed up the steps to Shen. “Shen! Akali! Zed!” he called.

The two turned to see their father run up to them and pull them into an embrace.

“Grandfather!” Akali called happily.

“Yes! I remember! I remember now! Oh, you three, you’re still alive!” His father squeezed them tighter as they hugged their father back.

The villagers began to remember the memories of the castle now that the curse was lifted. They all ran up the steps to reunite with their loved ones.

“Zed, look.” Syndra pointed at Jhin and Sona, who joined everyone downstairs with a scratch on them. “Your Majesty… You’re human too…” She and Kayn bowed to him in courtesy. Syndra walked over to Sona and bowed her head. “You saved us all, Sona. We can’t thank you enough.”

“We wouldn’t have become human again without you,” Kayn said as he bowed also.

Sona smiled and bowed back. 

“Oh my gods, you’re alive!” Shen said in relief.

Jhin smiled in joy and opened his arms to pull Shen and Zed into an embrace. “It’s so good to see you both like this again.”

Shen and Zed looked at each other in surprise but embraced Jhin back from the overwhelming joy that followed. “It’s good to see you too, old friend,” Zed said. 

* * *

 

Soft music flowed out of the open balcony of the ballroom, where pairs of people danced to the music while some watched from the sidelines. Sona stood next to her mother in a dress more elegant than her first one, golden flowers decorating her hair. 

“If you told me that the demon was actually the king of Ionia that day when you went to save him, I wouldn’t have believed it at all.” Lestara chuckled. “But who would have thought that my daughter would save a whole kingdom and now engaged to His Majesty?”

Sona giggled. It indeed was hard to believe this beautiful palace used to be dark and despondent only a year ago. The palace was so lively and bright now. She noticed Jhin approaching the two with his hand held out to Lestara.

“Would you like to dance, madam?”

“Me?” Lestara asked. She glanced at Sona, who amusedly gestured her to dance with him. “Oh my. Why not?” She took his hand and made their way to the circle of pairs dancing to the music. 

Karma stepped beside Sona in a similar crimson dress, though less intricate compared to Sona’s. “There’s a saying: what goes around comes around. But none of us expected that to turn out so differently until you came along.” She glanced at Sona, who only answered her with a questioning look. She smiled, shaking her head. “It’s nothing.” She gently pushed Sona out of the sidelines to let her join Jhin in the dance as Lestara made her way back.

“Hello, Miss Karma,” Lestara greeted with a bow.

“Good afternoon, Lady Lestara. Are you enjoying the ball so far?”

“Oh, plenty.” She gazed at the sight of Jhin and Sona dancing in their own little world together. She sighed in endearment. “I never thought I would be able to see my daughter so happy since we moved from Demacia.” A memory bubbled up to her mind that made her chuckle. “It makes think being imprisoned here wasn’t so bad after all. His Majesty treats me and Sona very well, and I’m more than happy to see that change in him.”

“A happy ending, you’d consider this to be?”

Lestara smiled wider when Jhin and Sona started whispering sweet nothings to each other, the former letting out a chuckle from a joke. “Oh yes, definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up becoming a little more than 10,000 words, I hate myself ;; 7 ;;


	7. The Crimson Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Demon AU - They call it the Crimson Demon. It hunts both humans and demons in the night, only a hum to indicate its approach. But what lies underneath that very tune it sings?
> 
> Warning: Angsty. Deaths of major characters. Slight description of wounds and injuries.

They say it roams the lush mountains and forests of Ionia, its steps light and in a rhythm. A creature neither human nor beast. Some say it is a man possessed by a demon. Some say it is the devil itself. They call it the Crimson Demon.

It has no skin but a skull. It has no face. It has horns of a beast. It has eyes that flicker between red and blue. Its face is the last thing they see before they either succumb to its curse or catch a glimpse of its escape.

The demon never lingers for long. Once it has fulfilled its hunger for blood, it disappears to roam the land once more until its next massacre.

It sings a melody that haunts the soul, that warns of its approach. Behind its voice is an otherworldly hum that accompanies the tune. 

But beware.

Those who hear it must escape from the thunder that follows, or a flash of light will spirit them away. Those who live to tell the tale say the thunder sounds like whispers of its victims claiming the next. It kills in the night, its hum the only indicator of its arrival.

Strange, however, that it would turn against its own kin, watching them disappear into dust under its resentful eye.

Laughter booms in the tavern with dull thumps of ceramic cups against wood. Other customers rarely turn their heads to the sudden outburst and continue drinking.

“Turns against its own kin, you say? Surely you jest,” a man says with a snort. “A demon killing its own kind? Unheard of!”

“Those things would rather try our hand than kill its own. It’s their nature!”

“But it’s true! I’ve seen it!” A disheveled young man tightens his grip as he hesitantly gazes at the reflection of his eyes in the  _ sake _ . They look tired, exhausted, almost devoid of hope. “It came to my village once. It took away my only light, my dear, beloved daughter.” He tears himself away from the rippling liquid, as if afraid he will see something he wishes not to.

“Oi, you alright?”

“How can I be?” The young man lowers his head. “Before it tried to kill me, the last villager left, another demon had come wandering by. Small, and clearly no threat. That’s when I saw it.”

The men lean in, curious.

“Its attention immediately shifted to the little demon, seeing nothing but the damned thing. Never have I seen a demon look at another with such… scorn.” He sighs, shaking his head. “It took aim and shot it. Straight in the eye. Precise and true. I watched its body start disintegrating as it died.”

“What the hell were you doing, watching that?”

“I was scared, obviously! But my legs found strength and took that chance to run. To run as far as they can take me.” His breath shudders as he recalls a memory. “It took a shot at me, but it missed. But then it called after me: time is ticking.” He swallows a lump in his throat that threatens to burst out.

“Good thing you came in here, boy.” A man takes a swig of his drink and sets his empty cup on the table. “We slay demons for a living. That fucker’s got quite the bounty on it. I’m sure we’re all more than willing to take a chance at bringing it down once and for all.”

“And keep that bounty all to yourself? Dream on, buddy.”

“You don’t realize the kind of power that demon has, do you?” the young man mutters bitterly. “I can’t ever forget that voice. That haunting voice telling me I’m running out of time.” He pours the last drop of his  _ sake _ and drinks it all in one gulp. “That is how you will lose your life to it.”

“The only thing I’ll be losing is my debt!”

The roaring laughter is suddenly cut short, when the sound of thunder erupts in the tavern. A demon slayer falls from his stool, dead. Blood begins to pool around the back of his head, only a hole in his left eye to indicate where he was shot. Dreaded silence fills the room until the same young man screams in terror.

“He’s here! He’s here!” he continues to scream, scrambling over the countertops as another boom of thunder takes another victim. The hiss following the thunder sounds like the dying breaths and whispers of the lives it stole. A hum then fills the silence after.

The demon slayers had already taken cover behind knocked-over tables, ready to fight.

From the tension, a low rumble that sounds like a chuckle comes from the corner of the tavern. There, a man—or what seems to look human—rises from his table, a hood hiding his head, and hums. The young man cowers under the counter.

“Shame. I was hoping to get more of a reaction.” The man throws back his hood, revealing the white skull with crimson horns. It’s as they say. A demon with the body of man. But its claws are those of a beast’s, dyed crimson to violet. It holds a gun while the other keeps a hold on an attachment at its hip. 

“The Crimson Demon,” a slayer whispers under his breath.

The demon’s eyes, as blue as an icy cave, shift to the slayer who uttered its name. The man sucks in a sharp breath and grips the hilt of his sword tighter. The demon takes notice. “How peculiar. I believe you were the one demon slayer who wanted to bring me down once and for all, no?”

“You bastard, how did you get in here?”

Fifteen people. Three more bullets. Four loads.

It chuckles again, its voice chiming with an ethereal ring to it. “I’m more surprised no one thought I was suspicious.” It takes aim towards the two demon slayers hiding behind two tables. He pauses, and then shoots the lamp right above them. In quick succession, it shoots the remaining lamps in the tavern, except for one.

Thunder erupts several times throughout the tavern as bodies collapse on the wooden floor. 

One. By. One.

By the time the tavern is quiet once more, light and rhythmic footsteps slowly approach the counter. A whimper sounds from underneath. The demon hums with its pace. “Tick. Tock,” it says. It stops in front of the lamp it didn’t shoot, and it taps the counter above the source of the whimper.

The young man scrambles out from the counter, crawling to the other side of the bar,  _ away _ from the demon. His chest is rising up and down from hyperventilating from fear.

Fear. That’s exactly what the demon loves to see. Oh, how satisfied it was that it let him get away that time in the village. He had more than enough time to let the trauma set in and take root.

“You are not a demon,” the young man stutters through his breaths.

The demon tilts its head in curiosity. “And why is that?”

“You kill humans  _ and _ demons. Demons don’t kill each other like you do.” He slides down the wall into a fetal position. “You can’t be a demon. You are a  _ monster _ .”

The demon’s eyes glow as it bursts into cacophonic laughter that makes the young man flinch. “A  _ monster _ ? Such a crude name does not fit for someone such as I, boy.” It sighs from its fit of laughter as it shoots the last bullet into the young man’s neck.

The young man collapses, gurgling and choking from the blood spilling into his throat. Within seconds, his body falls limp like the rest of them in the dim tavern. 

It stands still as its eyes gaze at the corpses littered all over the floor. A few limbs and innards decorate the walls like cherry blossoms on a warm, spring day. It doesn’t say a word. It is silent. The claw holding the gun retreats back into the cloak it wears as it strides out of the tavern.

White fog spews out of its jaws as it breathes out. It takes a moment to feel the winter breeze against its face. The demon takes a step into the snow but stops. It whips around with the gun fully assembled into a rifle and shoots.

A creature falls from the roof behind it, immediately disintegrating into nothing before it hits the snow. A demon. It has a companion. It tries to flee to the air, but the gunshot is faster. The other one falls from the sky, but it doesn’t turn to dust.

The Crimson Demon approaches the injured demon, which hisses and yowls as it grows closer. The yowling gets louder when a foot presses it into the snow, harder and harder until a crack sounds. 

The little demon begs. The creature begs for its death.

“Wretched things,” the demon growls, its eyes hardened with hate. It shoots a bullet into the creature’s eye and watches it turn into dust. It releases another white fog from the breath it held. It turns around to go back to the way it originally wanted to go.

It stops as it takes in the vast, white landscape. Winter is a blessing, just waiting to be stained red. But alas, it is also a curse, testing the threads of the demon’s self-control.

It hums a melody to itself as it treads through the snow. A melody from a memory long forgotten, or so it wishes to forget.

Oh, how it hates the winter.

* * *

 

“The Crimson Demon attacked a tavern southeast from Navori last week,” a hoarse voice growls. Rough and scarred hands crumple the piece of paper with the tavern and the Crimson Demon drawn in ink. 

“It has returned?”

“How many times will it keep haunting that place? It keep slipping from our grasp at every chance we have to capture it!” A  _ sake _ bottle shatters against the floor. 

The other man keeps calm, slowly shifting position in his seat. He hovers a hand over his companion’s shoulder but not touching it. “Zed, you mustn’t let your anger overtake you. That almost got you killed last time.”

“You can’t tell me you didn’t feel the same way when you laid eyes on that demon after what happened, Shen,” Zed hisses.

Shen’s hand retracts slightly as if singed by fire. “I will not deny that.” He leans closer. “But when you let anger lead you, you become impulsive and reckless. I had to carry you all the way back to the Kinkou Monastery because you couldn’t walk at the time.”

Zed’s eyes glaze over as he recalls the memory. He managed to land a strike at the demon, but at the cost of two bullets in his legs. Shen had barely made it in time to save him, though the demon had fled already. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the bed of the old Kinkou Monastery.

“You should have just left me for dead,” he mutters bitterly. 

Shen gazes at Zed in pity. “I miss them too, Zed. We both had people we considered loved ones.”

“And they were crushed like fragile branches.” Zed lowers his head into his hands, his nails digging into his scalp. “Kayn, he, he had such a bright future ahead of him. He was like my son…”

It has been years, almost a decade, since the Crimson Demon attacked their temples and took the lives of their students. Zed had lost a student he considered his son, Shieda Kayn, who was accepted into his Order since a young child. Shen had lost the two members of his own, Akali and Kennen, who stood by him since the fall of his father and his Order. 

They had become family to both, only to lose their lives to the Crimson Demon. They made it their mission to take the demon down once and for all, even forming an unlikely alliance between the two. 

“It should be heading there next,” Shen says. “We both know it has a pattern to its path. And whenever it strikes southeast of Navori…”

“… It goes to Zhyun.” Zed’s fist tightens. “Jyom Pass. It’s as if it’s beckoning us to find it. To lure us there.”

Shen straightens out the crumpled portrait of the Crimson Demon and stares at the drawing of the tavern next to it. His hand is steady, but there’s a slight tension in his grip. “We need to go.”

* * *

 

Jyom Pass, now within its line of sight, waits for the Crimson Demon’s arrival. Surely, those two have figured it out by now. If not, they were dimmer than it thought. 

But first…

It tears its gaze away from the mountains and back to the snow-covered ruins of a village. Its claw feels the exposed wood of a household to the stones marked with scratches of a beast’s. A demon’s. Its claw slowly turns into a fist against the stone as it fixates on the gash—longer than its arm span—beside it. 

Its eyes flash with contempt, hatred, anger… It sucks in a sharp breath and forces it to turn away from the house. It walks around a corner to the back, where a small stack of pebbles are covered in snow.

Still standing. 

Metal clinks as it kneels and gently scrapes snow off the pebbles, revealing a red string of embroidered flowers tied around and sitting on the bottom rock. Worn and torn from the passing seasons, it looks like it would disappear into dust the moment it’s touched.

A white cloudy breath comes from the side of its jaws as it sighs. It pushes its hood down, showing the demon’s skull and horns. From within the cloak it wears, it takes out a single pink camellia cupped in its claws and places it on the snow in front of the pebbles. 

The demon carefully touches the pink petals, another sigh escaping the opening in its jaws. “How long do I have until I can join you?” it asks the camellia, its voice gentle but longing. “It’s been… how long, I cannot even remember anymore.” It kneels on both knees, unfazed by the melting snow soaking its cloak. 

A memory begins to cloud its eyes, but it shakes the memory away. Not here. Not now.

“Perhaps I can never join you. Creatures can only bring their own kind with them to their afterlife.” It stares at its claws and hides them in the cloak. “I’ve been called a monster that kills both human and demon. I found it rather amusing.” It falls silent. “I think… I’ve given up on joining you in the other side. It’s just not possible for me, love.”

For a moment, it swears it hears a nostalgic tune, but it’s only the winds. The dead can’t come back. They cannot speak.

“If I can’t join you, then I will stay. I will keep roaming these lands until I am no more.” It slowly stands. “And when that time comes, I hope—even for a few seconds before I’m dragged into the depths of hell—I can see you one last time.”

Ka-chk. 

“Shit!” a faint hiss comes from the entrance of the village. The sound of blades slicing away at the snow and exploding into ink echoes through the ruins. A trap planted into the snow long ago. A surprise that no one approached this village in curiosity.

The demon looks back at the pile of pebbles and grunts in satisfaction. “That day… may have come earlier than expected.” It flees deeper into the village, into a forest that will lead them directly to Jyom Pass. It hears the footsteps of the two bounty hunters who lived to tell the tale and chased him all these years.

However, their steps are weary. Their age has caught up to them, it seems. Maybe even more.

Its eyes look around an opening along the pass for the ledge it always uses to get on higher ground. Easier to spot unsuspecting victims that way. Once it reaches the ledge, it waits. Two shadows approach the area, Zed arriving first before Shen, who approaches more cautiously. 

Some things still haven’t changed. 

Zed and Shen stand still, listening to the sounds of Jyom Pass. Their eyes scan the area for any sign of the Crimson Demon. 

Click.

They jump out of the way when a bullet strikes the ground between them. One. Shen dives and dashes towards Zed when another hits the rocks above him. Two. Zed just barely dodges a bullet by an inch, shoving Shen aside to save him. Three. Zed tumbles into the rocks that collapsed from its second shot, but he triggers a trap it had set. Shen suddenly blinks out of existence and back to Zed, to protect him from the blades that will shoot out as the trap explodes. 

The demon aims and shoots. Four. It is almost impressed when Zed deflects the last bullet with one of the shuriken blades on his back. But what about Shen?

Behind Zed, blood drips from Shen’s arms. Clever boy. He had shielded his own body before the blades shot through his torso. 

“Can you still fight?” Zed asks, his eyes locked onto the figure standing high and mighty on top of a ledge with its assembled rifle in hand. 

Shen rips out the trap’s blades from his arms. “Yes.” The sleeves of his robes darken with his blood. He follows Zed’s eyes to the Crimson Demon above. “Are you not satisfied that we survived?”

“On the contrary,” the demon replies. “Very few can survive what you just went through. Or, no, it’s only you two who have.” It chuckles. “Fantastic. I shall have you two dance for me. A dance of fruitless survival.”

“What is with you and your sick games? You didn’t think we’d never notice that you have a pattern to where you always go?” Zed spits.

“Oh no, this is exactly what I wanted you to realize. All so that we reunite here in Jyom Pass, where I believe I first met you two when you were with your father, Shen.” It chuckles sadistically. “It’s a shame. I was hoping to be able to have a chance to send the three of you together to the afterlife, but it seems,” it pauses to look at Zed, “someone was a little too eager.”

The blue in Shen’s eyes seems to darken at the comment. Zed tightens his hand on the hilt of his blade. “He’s gone now. What matters is that we kill you after all you’ve done to plague our lands,” Shen says. “We’ve settled our differences, and it’s time we put an end to you.”

The Crimson Demon shakes its head. “You can never settle your differences, not after what he did to your father.” It glares at the two. “Humans are creatures that survive at another’s expense. I’m sure you thought of taking away Zed’s most precious student at some point.” It loads the next four bullets into its gun. “Though, I seemed to have done that for y—” 

A shuriken blade strikes the demon’s shoulder, where the armor is, sending it flying into the mountain wall. 

“Now!” Zed roars.

They hurry up the ledges, effortlessly hopping from ledge to ledge to catch up to the Crimson Demon. But by the time they get to it, only a brown cloak remains behind. “Where did it—”

The Crimson Demon whistles from below, where they stood. It holds its shoulder armor in its claw, completely dented and no longer wearable. “It seems I have underestimated you since our last meeting. I should be much easier to kill without this, don’t you think?”

Another roar echoes through the pass as Zed leaps from the ledge to strike the demon with his blade. The demon dodges his reckless attack with ease but misses the shot. One. Shen joins Zed and dashes towards the demon, but it leaps back and takes another shot.

Shen avoids it, but the bullet strikes the back of Zed’s shoulder, where the thrown shuriken blade was supposed to be. Two.

Despite the pain, Zed powers through. He strikes and strikes and strikes until Shen comes from behind and slices his blade across the demon’s chest. The fabric is cut clean, and a deep gash is left behind. It raises its left arm with the gun and shoots. Blood sprays from the side of Shen’s torso. Three.

They stand at a distance, their breaths heavy and their hands pressing against their wounds. The demon clutches its chest, hissing at the pain and hiding the wound with its robe. It reaches into the back of its robes, counting the bullets it has on its belt. 

One load left. It has five bullets. Every shot has to count.

It knows Jyom Pass well. It snaps its gun at Shen, who is the worst off among the two. Zed rushes in to shove him aside, but the demon quickly moves its gun and shoots at the ledge above them. The snow and rocks then crumble and roll down the mountainside with no escape, taking all three down with them.

…

…

The Crimson Demon rises from the debris first, a crack in its skull and a horn completely severed off. It grunts in pain as it pushes a large rock off its right arm. It uses the last of its strength to reload its gun and lets its right arm fall limp, no longer able to use it. The rifle attachment lays somewhere under the snow, most likely unusable now.

It hears the sound of rocks being shoved aside somewhere within the cloud of dust and snow. For a moment, a shadow forms from the settling dust. It takes a shot. 

Missed.

One.

The demon tumbles across the rocks as Zed throws himself at it. Its gun flies out of its claw, only a few inches away. It rolls over, trying to reach for the gun. A sharp pain suddenly courses through its body. Looking down at its abdomen, the tip of a blade shows through from its back. 

Zed supports his body on his elbows, taking the only opportunity it has to pierce his blade through the demon’s torso. The strength in his arms is quickly draining away. “This is for my son!”

But the push from the stab is enough to let the demon grab its gun, whip it around, and shoot Zed in the heart. His body collapses onto the rocks immediately, blood staining the snow red. Two.

A cry echoes from the cloud of snow, and Shen leaps at the demon with his blade aiming for the heart. It shoots Shen in the abdomen, stopping him before he could strike. But Shen gets up immediately and takes out a smaller dagger. His movements are sluggish and miscalculating, but the hilt of his dagger strikes the skull. Three.

The crack splits the skull in half. But the demon still lives. It shoots the last bullet into Shen’s heart point-blank and watches him fall. 

Four.

The Crimson Demon forces the blade out of its abdomen and sits up. With shaky legs, it stands and limps away from the bloody debris towards a nearby tree unaffected by the avalanche. It breathes heavily, occasionally gasping for breath from the searing pain from its wound. 

A bitter chuckle blossoms from its lips. To think, today is the day its life ends. But it’s also the day it plunges itself into hell. For what else would come for a demon like itself? Its vision starts to blur, and it knows it will die. But it can’t help but want to have a few more moments in peace and silence. 

It glances at the two bounty hunters, now presumably dead. In its blurring vision, it sees the souls of their loved ones descending from the heavens for them. But none of them turn their heads to the culprit responsible for their deaths. They only see their family, so joyful that they’re together again.

The gun slips out of its claw and falls into the snow. It feels its life ebbing away with each second. 

It longed to see her again. Even for a few seconds. It would plead to the gods, but it abandoned them long ago. But a part of it wanted to believe that she could descend from the heavens, just so it could hold her again for the last time. 

It waits and waits. It waits for the claws of hell to come dragging it beneath, where it would never see daylight ever again. Not after what it’s done.

It feels its consciousness fading.

* * *

 

She was a musician, now retired from her life in the Ionian courts. She wanted to live a peaceful life with other villagers while playing her music to comfort them. She knew how to hunt, for she would leave the village with a group of hunters and foragers for food. Perhaps she learned from being in the courts for so long.

The first thing he remembers of her is when she was replacing a cold towel on his forehead. Where was the gun? Where was his gun? Of course, in a panic, he scrambled away and caused havoc in her household. 

She calmed him down and made herself to be as harmless as possible. She was mute, only able to to communicate through written words. 

She had found him in the forest during one of their hunts, injured and almost on the brink of death from an encounter with a pack of wolves. Bringing him to her home, she carefully tended to his injuries until he woke up. 

While he thanked her for her patience and time, he had nowhere else to go. He had been wandering the lands for so long after he was abandoned and cast out. He was an entertainer, with only a stolen rifle to protect him. He offered his own hand in helping the village in exchange for helping him find a place to stay here. 

Feeling pity for him, she let him stay in her home. Slowly, she taught him the village’s lifestyle while letting him help her entertain the villagers. He would tell tales of Ionia while she would play music to his words. It was even better that he knew how to dance. 

She was a kind-hearted, gentle person who loved to play music on a stringed instrument and provide healing through her music. All the villagers loved her, of course. They all called her Sona, a fitting name for someone who loved sound.

Sona, who liked to sit by the fireplace to warm her hands and feet after a long day of hunting or performing. She had a few selection of books she traded with merchants who passed through the area. She would read them whenever she wasn’t playing something on her instrument.

Sona, whose eternal patience and kindness always showed whenever she looked at him after he had asked a question. Despite her lack of ability to talk, she loved to have a conversation. Whenever she came back from the hunt, he would always ask how it went while he cooks a warm meal. And she would go on about new and old things she’s seen that day.

Sona, who would sometimes join him in his dance and letting the villagers take over with the music. Her breath would get shaky from laughter, and he could feel that happy spring in her step as he twirled her around. He would sing to her music as they danced alone in her house.

Sona, who fell in love with him as deeply as he fell in love with her. Their touches were more frequent though subtle, looks began to linger, and too many times was he gazing at her while she was looking away. He couldn’t hold back his usually polite and reserved nature when he unthinkingly planted a small kiss on her knuckles when she held his hand. 

He loved her. Spending a future with her didn’t sound so bad, if she was willing to accept him by her side.

 

But time was cruel. Their time and moments together were as fleeting as the winter solstice. 

When demons came to attack the village knowing the hunters were away, he had to evacuate the villagers while keeping the demons at bay. All he had was his stolen rifle that he barely knew how to use. 

Despite their efforts, the demons killed the villagers that remained to fight them. Everyone else managed to get away. By the time the hunters arrived, only five stood in the center surrounded by demons and fire that burned the village to the ground. The demons’ chatter reached his ears.

“I hear there’s a maven in this village.”

“A beautiful maven whose music is said to bring comfort.”

“Her music can be used for power.”

“She can be a sacrifice to our king!”

A dread filled his stomach as he realized they were talking about Sona. No doubt the others heard the demons too. His grip on the gun tightened as he looked at Sona, who was horrified by the bloodshed. He shook his head and pleaded her to run. The demons couldn’t lay their hands on her. He wouldn’t let them.

But she chose to fight together against the swarm of demons, taking down a few each time by striking a mark on their body that resembled an eye. But they were greatly outnumbered, and their own numbers have dwindled down to eight. 

The leader of the demons stepped forward, bigger and more monstrous than the little ones they had been fighting so far. “If you give me your maven now, I shall let you go with your bodies and lives still in tact. I’ll even spare the ones that ran away. How about that?”

His eyes widened as his grip on Sona tightened and hid her closer to him. They weren’t going to have her. Not her. 

But Sona was then ripped out of his grip and shoved forward. He grasped at her cloak to take her back, but the other hunters held him down on the ground. “You want her? You can have her! Now keep your word and leave us be.”

The demon leader looked at Sona, as if determining her value from what the rumors had told. “A beauty, indeed.” It glanced at the hunters holding a struggling one down. The maven’s husband, perhaps. Oh, wouldn’t this be interesting? “Hm. I don’t think so.” It snapped its fingers, and the swarm of demons swooped towards the hunters to kill them.

Anger overwhelmed him, going into a frenzy and shooting every demonling in the way to create a path to Sona again. The recoil of his rifle was strong, but he couldn’t care about the aching pain in his body. The other hunters were slowly being picked off one by one, each death becoming more gruesome.  

Meanwhile, Sona was fighting the leader on her own, with only a small sword as her weapon. All she had to do was strike the eye mark under its chin. But it was much too tall for her to reach. If only… She then spotted a bow and a couple of arrows scattered on the ground and ran for them. But before she could distance herself enough to shoot, the leader’s claw grabbed her torso. 

“Still fighting, eh? Don’t even think about it. You’re going to be one hell of a meal, maven.” The leader opened its jaws, unhinging it to a horrifyingly big size to swallow three humans at once. Its grip began to tighten around Sona’s body more and more. 

Sona released a choked breath. She was in too much pain to pull back on the bow. 

“No!”

A bullet whisked past Sona into the leader’s jaw, ripping through the top of its mouth to its eye. The leader howled in pain and collapsed on its knees, slashing Sona’s house and others into rubble. But that moment of pain tightened and nearly crushed Sona’s body. It dropped her onto the ground, her body landing limp. 

“Sona! Sona!” He ran towards Sona. 

Her body was… almost distorted. One of her legs was completely crushed and bent unnaturally, and some of her ribs were broken. She wasn’t going to make it. She wouldn’t be able to survive this. 

“G… go,” she breathed. “Go…”

Before the others took him too.

“I can’t. I promised to be by your side. I can’t let you die.” He used everything he had. His gun only had one bullet left. He grabbed Sona’s hand tightly. “If you’re going to die, I’d rather go with you.”

Sona’s response was cut short when the leader plucked her off the ground. Desperate, she grabbed the nearest weapon. His gun. “You bitch! You’ll pay for this!” Its grip now tightened with the intent to kill, pulling her closer to its mouth. 

But with her last ounce of strength, she brought up the gun and shot the last bullet through the mark, tearing a hole on the other side of its flesh. The demon froze in its tracks and fell, taking Sona down with it. The demonlings swarmed around the leader’s ashes, then scattering in a panic.

As the leader disappeared into dust, Sona was left on the ground, coughing out blood. Her internal organs were crushed. Her eyes found her lover running to her side. The shine in her eyes were dulling, and her breathing was becoming heavier and more ragged.

“Sona? Sona!” he cried out as he held her hand. “Sona?” But Sona wasn’t responding anymore. Only ragged breaths. Within seconds, her hand fell completely limp. She was gone. He tightened his grip around her hand and held it to his lips. Tears flowed down his cheeks and fell onto her cheeks. “Why couldn’t you take me with you, love?”

Coughing from a near distance caught his attention. He looked behind him to see the last surviving hunter. The one who pushed Sona out. 

In that moment, something in his heart hardened and froze over like ice. Something new flared within him. 

A hatred. 

A deep hatred of demons. 

Humans. 

Both. 

He released Sona’s hand and approached the hunter with a sword in his hand.

“That son of a bitch lied to us… We had a deal!” the hunter spat to himself. He then noticed the figure approaching him. “What are you doing? No. No!” His cries quickly died into a gurgle as the sword drove into his throat. “You… you…”

“You’re all the same. We defend ourselves against the demons that threaten our lives and seek sacrifices, but…” He threw the bloody sword into the snow. “Humans are no different.”

He took Sona’s body and buried her behind her house, stacking pebbles on top of each other as her gravestone. Tears wet the dirt beneath his hands as he mourned. He looked up when he felt something brush against his cheek. It was snowing. Even the heavens were grieving her death. 

He wanted to join her. He couldn’t understand why she couldn’t take him with her. 

His cries and pleas went unheard by the gods. 

What heavens? What gods? They couldn’t possibly exist if they let this happen to her. But… if there was no heaven, she wouldn’t be able to pass on peacefully. But why? Why would the heavens take her away, when she did nothing wrong? 

He sucked in a deep breath and roared at the skies, full of hatred, mourning, and frustration. His quiet sobs then turned into laughter. That was it. He had to abandon the gods. Even if they chose to watch over him, he would turn his back against them.

And what better way was there to spit on the very ground their feet touched, by turning into a demon himself? He was no longer a human after that day.

 

Over the decade, the Crimson Demon had roamed Ionia and killed all demons and humans it saw. After every slaughter, it would hum a tune. A tune that reminded it of Sona. A tune that kept its sanity and self-control in tact. It was the only light it had. 

Every winter, it visited the ruins of the village with a pink camellia in hand. It would place it in front of her gravestone, speak for a while, and leave until the next winter. 

One autumn, it made a rare visit. It brought a red string of embroidered flowers and tied it around the first rock. “A gift,” it said. “For your birthday. I saw it and thought that you would love it.” It fell silent. “I still do what I do. Killing both demons and humans. But I always make sure to kill every demon I come across.” 

The fallen leaves on her gravestone danced away with the autumn breeze.

“Three bounty hunters came for me today. Two adoptive brothers and one father, it seems.” It lowered its head. “The father spared me in mercy, and I took that chance to escape. I think maybe I shouldn’t have fled.” It placed its claw on the dirt. “They could have… No, never mind. It’s only a fleeting thought.”

It stood up after another conversation and turned to leave. “Happy birthday, love. My next visit should be very soon.”

And it continued on its way.

 

“I know you’re not happy with what I’m doing. I know you’d want me to move on.” It frowned. “But… I can’t. Every face I look at, it just reminds me of that night. Then I feel like I’m losing control of myself.”

Anger was powerful. Hatred was even more so.

“Your song I first sung to keeps me from doing something I regret.” It sighed. “I’m sure it will only get worse from here. And sometimes, I pray that you have abandoned me for the things I’ve done.” It swallowed a lump in its throat at the silence from her gravestone, as if it expected her to descend from the heavens. It closed its eyes and gave a crooked smile as it put on its hood. 

“I’ll be back again.”

* * *

 

The snow feels cold against his skin, but the demon has numbed from the loss of blood. He lies on his back in the snow, letting himself bleed out. 

All he sees is a blur of crimson on white. Even Shen and Zed’s bodies have become one with the debris now. 

He has abandoned the heavens and the gods, after all. They wouldn’t allow Sona to visit. But with the atrocities he has committed, Sona has probably abandoned him too.

But it is fine that way. After all, he’s a demon. A monster.

Then he sees her. As if rising from his foggy breaths like the smoke of his gun, Sona appears before him as clear as day. She embraces him in his vision, and he swears he can feel her gentle touch. She still looks the same as that day she found him in the forest. Her long brown hair, her red robes, her calloused fingers… her loving eyes… 

He can hear the songs she would play for him when she was alive. The songs he would dance to. The songs he would tell tales to. The song he sung to. 

He breathes in and laughs shakily, despite the numbing pain. “Have I not become a demon? Have I not killed enough to become what I should be?” He lifts a hand to caress her cheek as she cups his face with her hands. He brushes a lock of hair away from her eyes. “Why haven’t you abandoned me, love?”

Sona answers with a small kiss and puts her fingers underneath his skull. She lifts it up. A mask of white with two horns. It breaks apart in her hands as easily as clay.

It reveals a face beneath, a face that resembles a human’s. No, he is human.

He always was. 

She smiles and presses her lips to his forehead. She gently caresses his cheeks, as if feeling his skin for the first time. She’s been waiting for so long, always beside him. She breathes out a laugh, tears steadily flowing down her face. 

He has destroyed himself enough. He now needs peace.

Because a mask will not and cannot hide what’s underneath.

With this last moment of acceptance, he feels his last breath leave him as he joins her in the winter winds—to wander together, no longer apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot is dedicated to hattershiara/xhiara for this absolutely lovely [JhinSona piece](http://hattershiara.tumblr.com/post/164941577373/chaotictalon-whisper-slipped-through-bloody) that inspired me to write this based on the work.
> 
> I also highly recommend reading the written piece that their friend wrote. It's written so well, and it's such an inspiration.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to check out my [Tumblr](http://alicesenpai.tumblr.com/) for possible artworks based on any of these one-shots or so!


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